


Forever

by Mrs_Silence_Dogood



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Post-Canon, Post-Chapter 698 (Naruto), Strong Haruno Sakura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-22 19:01:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12488676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Silence_Dogood/pseuds/Mrs_Silence_Dogood
Summary: This picks up after Sasuke and Naruto's last fight, after 698. What if they were left alone for long enough to get themselves back to help?*He’s coming back.* Naruto’s thoughts were scrambled, at best, but that fact dominated his lesser concerns. *Sasuke was coming home. With him.* After their fight, there was surprisingly little discussion. They were exhausted. They’d released the world from the infinite tsukuyomi and he anticipated everyone was going to their respective homes. He didn’t go back to the where the war had been fought after their fight. His soul was exhausted, and he just wanted to go home.This is a M/M fic - Naruto and Sasuke. But there's some weird Sakura triangle bits, too. Because even though I don't really like her with Sasuke, I do love me some Team 7.





	1. Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I wrote, and is pretty much my therapy after the ending of Naruto. I needed a different kind of closure so I changed big plot parts for myself. I even tried to make a Sakura/Sasuke baby make sense at the end. (It doesn't work, but the end M/M/F scene I wrote helped me come to terms, I suppose, so I'm keeping it.) I had big plans to make sense of a Hinata/Naruto kid, too but I just couldn't do it. The idea of Naruto with anyone but Sasuke kinda makes my tummy turn. Anyways, this is done. I'll take a few days to edit and post it in it's entirety. I won't add to this one, it served it's purpose of helping me cope with the end of a beloved series.

_He’s coming back._ Naruto’s thoughts were scrambled, at best, but that fact dominated his lesser concerns. _Sasuke was coming home. With him._ After their fight, there was surprisingly little discussion. They were exhausted. They’d released the world from the infinite tsukuyomi and he anticipated everyone was going to their respective homes. He didn’t go back to the where the war had been fought after their fight. His soul was exhausted, and he just wanted to go home.

He’d just recharged enough of his chakra that Kurama was able to stop the bleeding and Sasuke had used a precise chidori to stop the bleeding from his arm (or lack of) as well. He rose from his sitting position next to Sasuke and muttered “I’m going home.” There was an obvious invitation, both in the tone and in his eyes. But Naruto was done fighting Sasuke. They both knew there was no pressure or expectation in his statement, just peace. Sasuke paused only slightly before standing as well and responding an indifferent “Hn” and following behind him. He wasn’t even able to process what emotions he felt about that fact. They needed medical attention and that was enough at that time.

Naruto could sense familiar chakra closing in on them. He and Sasuke were travelling through the trees at a relaxed pace, so this was no surprise. They exchanged a glance to insure the other had felt it, too, and continued on their way, allowing to be caught.

“Sasuke-kun! Naruto!” Sakura and Kakashi fell in formation with them easily. As they’d done hundreds of times; but this time Naruto was in front. He nodded recognition to them, but said nothing, continuing on his way. Kakashi’s face mirrored Sakura’s questioning glare, but they said nothing. Team 7 would be the first home. Naruto thought that was fitting since they were the ones to have had the largest role in ending the war.

He didn’t want Sakura taking care of them. He knew if they stopped, they’d need to be carried, so he plowed ahead. Naruto remembered his team following him directly to the hospital. He remembered a team of medical staff rushing to greet him and he remembered watching Sasuke fall, Kakashi catching him and then it all went black as he, too, fell.

When Naruto woke, he was in the bed next to Sasuke but Sasuke was still asleep. He felt as if he’d been asleep for weeks and when he looked down he saw his arm had been grafted. He moved it tentatively and flexed and turned it. It was still wrapped in bandages and somehow he knew it was probably going to remain that way. He looked around the room as he gathered his senses and noticed there were flowers and balloons all over the room. He sat up as he tested his body marginally and was surprised to find himself feeling 100%. He looked out the window and saw Shikamaru and Gaara on the road. _So they’re all back, now._ Just how long had he been out? He looked at Sasuke again and noticed his arm, too had been grafted. _He was_ not _going to like that they did that while they were out._

In fact, Naruto had no idea why they had done it. Isn’t it kind of standard procedure for patients to have consent for these kinds of procedures? And they certainly weren’t nothing procedures. There had to be much more pressing injuries that required attention right after an entire army came back from war. He grabbed his chart and noticed that it had actually been 12 days since they’d made it back. There’s no way they should be this healed. He flipped through the pages and found the doctor’s notes to say the procedure had been done on next of kin’s request. _Who the fuck was his next of kin?_ He flipped through more pages and found a consent form with Kakashi’s signature. _Because Naruto had no parents and Kakashi was his sensei, they had defaulted that to Kakashi when they were still children._ Which meant that he was Sasuke’s next of kin, too. And that explained why Sasuke also had a shiny new arm.

And Naruto had had enough. He wanted to get the hell out of there. So he slipped out the window and along the rooftops and onto the Hokage monument. He sat on top of his father’s head and tried to catch his breath. There was too much. Too much had happened and he wasn’t able to process it all. To his surprise, his body felt fine. He had had no problems getting up here. And a quick check with Kurama had revealed what he’d already known: physically, he was back to normal. His body had taken to the new arm and his wounds from the war and from Sasuke’s tantrum had been healed completely.

He had no idea how long he’d been there just kind of skulking when he felt a new, but familiar stir within him. _Sasuke was awake._ He sat up and turned his head toward the hospital where he’d come from and noticed with no small amount of amusement that Sasuke was jumping out the same window he had. His smile dropped in shock when he found Sasuke was heading toward him. He arrived to Naruto and eyed him warily, neither speaking before Sasuke sat down near him.

Naruto couldn’t help the way his face lit up to note that his friend was choosing to stay _again._ He waved his new hand at him and wagged his fingers.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, flipped him off with his new finger and leaned back on his hands. “It’s only been 12 days.”

“I was thinking the same thing. Why didn’t we wake up at all during that time?”

“My chart had a doctor’s note saying they had stopped working on us 5 days ago. Apparently that’s when the army came back in entirety. They just kept us sedated until our bodies took to the arms. Which was apparently today.” Sasuke narrowed his eyes and took in Naruto. “How long have you been awake?”

Naruto smiled slyly and drug out the word. “Daaaaaaays”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and shook his head. “So not long. Hn. Moron.”

“About an hour before you.”

“Sounds about right.” Sasuke didn’t look at him but Naruto could tell he was still trying to make sense of something. “Why did Kakashi do this?”

“Well, we _did_ save the world.”

“Why did he do it for _me_?”

Naruto understood. Sasuke thought he’d severed his ties. And he had. But Kakashi likely saw just what Naruto had. Sasuke needed them. “He probably thought it would piss you off.”

“It… doesn’t.” Sasuke sounded surprised by his own words. But before Naruto could comment he continued. “They’ll want to talk with us.”

“Ugh. don’t remind me. I need to write a _report_.” He spat the word with as much distaste as he could.

“You’ll need to report our fight.”

“Eh, I’ll gloss over it.”

“I was going to kill -” Sasuke shook his head. “A _lot_ of people, Naruto.” His voice broke when he spoke and he sat back, as if he was surprised by it.

Naruto sighed and tried to speak in a casual tone. “Yeah, you’re a pretty fucked up guy.” Naruto shrugged. “I set you straight. That’s all that matters.”

Sasuke’s head swung around and he narrowed his eyes. “As if you ever could.” And then the words sunk in with him and his face fell and he repeated the words softer. This time they had an entirely different meaning. “As if you ever could.” Naruto thought he may just be realizing how fucked up he really was.

“I will. You’ll see.” Naruto smiled casually and shrugged looking out into the village again.

“I overheard a nurse say Sakura and Kakashi were coming back today. I don’t know where they came from but I sense a pretty big chakra flux coming in.” He nodded toward the woods. “Seems like if Kakashi and Sakura were traveling together that’s the kind of strength they’d resonate.”

Come to think of it, Naruto sensed it, too. He nodded. “Let’s go.”

When they caught up with Kakashi and Sakura the two seemed incredibly surprised but said nothing. Sasuke wore his trademark scowl and no one said anything to anyone for a long moment. Naruto finally spoke. “We thought we should probably report together. Is Baa-chan in her office you think?”

Kakashi nodded and eyed them both hesitantly before continuing on the path through the trees back to the village.

They approached the edge of the village and something Naruto hadn’t considered occurred. From the path they took, the first part of the village they came to was the Uchiha complex.

Naruto seemed to not notice until he was at the gate and he then froze. It was destroyed, just as the rest of the village had been during Pein’s attack. Since the attack had happened, there had been fewer people more busy than Naruto. He had helped rebuild when he could, paying special attention to the village’s residences and the businesses that were required to make the village self sustained. And as soon as the basics had been rebuilt, he had abandoned the finer points of rebuilding to face and develop his … relationship with Kurama, and then the war. He felt a small twinge of guilt that his friend was now seeing his home destroyed. He turned to face Sasuke and was surprised to see only indifference. If anything elicited emotion from Sasuke, it had been all things Uchiha. He suspected that his air of indifference was just bravado and that he was refusing to deal with his feelings at seeing his home so thoroughly disrespected. Still he couldn’t help the words from coming out.

“I’m sorry, Sasuke.”

Sasuke turned sharply to face him. It was as if he’d forgotten Naruto was there. Sasuke’s face twisted in confusion.

“This was your home. Your family built this and it’s been completely forgotten by the village. The Uchiha was a clan of Konoha, too. We should look after our own better than that.” Naruto lightly touched the wooden gate as if he expected it to fall at any moment. Sasuke just shook his head, taking great effort to avoid eye contact while he looked around.

“We take care of those who take care of themselves.” Sakura’s voice was cold, reminding the two of them that they were not alone. “If the only living Uchiha couldn’t be assed to rebuild his home, why should we have?”

“Sakura…” Naruto’s gasp clearly showed he was stunned by her reaction. Sasuke’s brow quirked. This was the first time, even during her attempts to kill him, she’d ever spoken so coldly to Sasuke.

“No. Naruto. I think Sasuke’s long since burned his bridges here. I appreciate you keeping your word, Naruto. The fact that you went to such great lengths to do so makes me nothing but value your friendship and your role as a true hero to Konoha. But bringing Sasuke home may not have actually been a great idea. It’s not his home anymore. This proves that. If it were his home, he would have protected it.”

Kakashi touched Sakura’s arm, trying to pull her back as well as reel her in. “Sakura, you know it’s not that simple. There have been unseen puppet masters maneuvering us all since before we were born. We have all done things---”

“You died, Kakashi!” Sakura pulled her arm away from him, tears in her eyes. “Are you really going to tell me that after seeing what Sasuke was capable of, even before meeting with the sage of the six paths, it never occurred to you that the suffering we felt during Pein’s attack would have been so much less if he wouldn’t have been so eager to dismiss us all?” There was no response to be made. There was no argument against it. It was true and they knew it. Naruto had taken care of Pein. After he was done with him, all deaths had been reversed, but the damage to the town was irreversible. She turned to Naruto. “Neji’s gone.” Naruto narrowed his eyes.

“That’s not his fault, Sakura. You can’t blame him for things that he wasn’t even--”

“She’s right.” Sasuke spoke quietly but firmly. “I don’t have a home here by my own doing. I didn’t want the attachments. I consciously let them be destroyed. I’ll have to rebuild more than a house, Naruto.” He moved towards Kakashi and touched his arm. It was the closest thing to emotion or affection he’d ever shown his sensei and Kakashi’s eyes went wide. Sasuke didn’t say anything, didn’t make eye contact. He didn’t even linger his touch. Kakashi knew, though, instinctively, this was Sasuke’s way of telling him he hadn’t known Pein had killed him. Or that he felt _something_. Sasuke was still Sasuke, so Kakashi knew there would be no more delving into this matter, but it was a sign that Sasuke had been more affected by his battle with Naruto than he expected. Judging by Sakura’s arms folded across her chest, she’d been affected by Sasuke’s attempt at world domination a great deal, too. Sasuke slowly approached Sakura and searched her face. He saw only anger. No adoration. Gone was the underlying devotion to him beneath whatever she wore on the outside. He nodded. That, he could work with. For the first time in his life, he smiled directly at Sakura. Not a cruel smile, not a smirk. Not a warm smile, by any means. But an understanding one.

“I’ll stay here. I shouldn’t concern the villagers being this far out. Naruto, maybe you could put a barrier? Keep me in or keep others out. Protect me, protect them. It may not appease Lord Hokage, but it should buy me enough good will to avoid immediate execution attempts. And I think you should probably go to her without me.” Sasuke breached the gate to the Uchiha complex and began walking towards the main house. “You know where I’ll be.”

* * *

“What am I supposed to do with this information, Naruto?” Tsunade held the three reports of what had happened after she’d been thrown into her infinite Tsukuyomi together in her hands. The three authors of the reports stood before her in her office. “He went on a rampage and now he’s just camping out in his old bedroom?” She slammed her hand down and looked firmly at Kakashi. “Your report neglects to talk to his intention of KILLING ME and the other kages, Kakashi. I’d expect that kind of downplay from Naruto, and wasn’t disappointed, thank you, brat!” She took a second to glare at Naruto. “I’m surprised I got it out of Sakura’s report, to be honest. But at least one of you has the sense to be loyal to your Hokage. Or are you two now putting your support behind the ‘Sasuke for Hokage’ campaign?”

“No, Lady Hokage.” Both men replied in unison, eyes cast downward. It had been another week since Team 7 had left Sasuke in his family’s estates, and while they kept a steady run of supplies to him and there had been no appearances in the village from Sasuke, there was still some tension regarding his presence in his ancestral home.

“I’m guessing neither of you are surprised Sakura reported the whole truth. So tell me. Why did you neglect to mention it? Was there some plan between the two of you or is this something you two just happened to independently agree on? Why?”

Kakashi looked at Naruto to see if he wanted to respond. Naruto had been relatively quiet on all things Sasuke since their return and he was perfectly willing to throw himself on this metaphorical blade for his students. “We didn’t plan anything. I can’t speak for Naruto, but I think we both came to the same conclusion: The fewer reports of his mistakes, the easier to overlook.”

She punched her desk with such force it broke in half. “YOU WANT ME TO OVERLOOK THAT HE TRIED TO KILL US AND RULE THE WORLD LIKE SOME EVIL TYRANT?!”

“He didn’t really want that, Granny.” Naruto’s voice was soft and unexpected. Sakura scoffed. “He was hurting. He was scared. He wanted to fix what went wrong. You can’t pretend he didn’t suffer at the hands of this village. His entire family died in sacrifice for someone else’s idea of the ‘greater good.’ He just thought the safest way to avoid these things from happening again was to shoulder it for everyone.”

“He wanted … to KILL US, Naruto!”

“He wasn’t wrong!” Naruto flashed Kurama mode unintentionally and Tsunade for a moment, she was so stunned, she flopped down in her seat eyes wide before she stood again, eyes narrowed and shoulders squared. Naruto noticed his flaming persona and cursed under his breath. He made himself go back to normal and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Granny Hokage. It’s just… Sasuke doesn’t think he has anyone right now. And that’s not his fault. This village has isolated him his whole life. And I know how that feels. I won’t let him go through that. I didn’t exclude it from the report so you could overlook what he did. I did it so that I’d only have to destroy one report when I become Hokage. I will not let the records of my village show the Uchiha as victims, or usurpers. Traitors and revolutionaries. I’ve only known four Uchiha in my life. All have caused a lot of pain and death. But three had the world’s best interest in mind. They believed in the greater good and were willing to sacrifice all of themselves in order to serve it. When I’m Hokage, the Uchiha will be respected. And you should make that a priority, too.”

Tsunade shook her head at him in disbelief, her mouth slightly open. “Your faith in people is utterly unshakable, Naruto. I don’t know how you’re going to make these kinds of decisions when you’re Hokage.” She looked sadly at him then turned to Kakashi.

“Thankfully we’ll have a buffer period, apparently. Hopefully, he’ll make the transition from my strictness and your softness easier for the people of our village. Or maybe he’ll just show you a better way.” She put all three reports into a file and tossed it aside on her desk. She folded her hands and put her elbows on the desk as she said “I’ll let you know what I decide. Dismissed. … Sakura. Stay.”

Naruto knew Tsunade wanted a more frank discussion of what had happened with Sasuke than she’d get from his mentor and himself. And apparently the unbiased source of Sasuke knowledge was now Sakura. _How things have changed,_ Naruto thought as he headed to take Sasuke more supplies. He checked on Sasuke last night right before bed. He’d made a lot of progress on the main house in the Uchiha estate, but it was still barely livable. For now, Sasuke had made a pallet for sleeping in the main room and had cleared the house of debris. When Naruto arrived, Sasuke was holding the frame of a two story wall up with one Susano’o arm while he used his real arms to secure it in place.

Naruto smiled. “I don’t think that’s going to be reassuring anyone of your harmlessness, Sasuke.” He produced ten clones to go help secure the wall so Sasuke could let Susano’o go sooner. Actual Naruto took the groceries he had for Sasuke to the room that had once been a kitchen.

Sasuke scowled at Naruto. “I’m _not_ harmless, Dobe.”

“Yeah, also probably something you should avoid saying to people.”

“You’re not people.”

Naruto smiled widely. It was as close as his friend got to admitting he was special to him without nearly killing him first. As they finished, the clones dispersed and Sasuke came over to peer into the bags of food with obvious interest. “How did the meeting go?” He pulled out a vine of tomatoes and inhaled them deeply.

“About as I expected. Kakashi didn’t include everything either.” Naruto didn’t expand on what “everything” they both had withheld. He didn’t have to, Sasuke just nodded in understanding. “It does seem like Sakura’s officially and permanently resigned her position as president of the Sasuke fan club, though.” Naruto chuckled to admit.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “That just means that an actual relationship will be easier to build with her. I’d never get anywhere if she didn’t actually _see_ me.”

Naruto nudged Sasuke teasingly with his elbow, “A relationship, eh? Is that why you came back? Huh?”

“Baka. I meant a friendship, or working relationship, or something similar. I have no more romantic interest in her now than I ever did.” He finished his second tomato and went back to work.

Naruto made a dozen clones and they all spread out to begin work on repairing or cleaning the house.

“No.” Sasuke stopped in his tracks when he saw the clones. “This is my mess to fix, Naruto. I need to do this myself.”

Naruto didn’t even paused to think about it. “Shut up, Sasuke. As far as I know no villager had to rebuild an entire house all on their own. And you’re what? Going to build the entire estate?”

“No, Naruto, I don’t need you to fix everything for me. Don’t be ridiculous.”

Naruto arched a brow at him. “Wanna fight for it?”

Sasuke growled. After the last fight, they knew they were pretty evenly matched but Sasuke wasn’t passionate about this and they both knew it. Naruto was passionate about everything. Sasuke would lose this fight. “Fine.”


	2. Guard

They’d been working together all day and between Sasuke, Naruto and his clones, they had the entire main house mostly done. Furniture that could be was being crafted, but appliances would need to be purchased and to do that, Sasuke would either need access to his family’s fortune, or a job. Both of which would take time and he seemed content to move on to the next house, so Naruto followed. They had cleared out a smaller house and Sasuke was caring for a fire to burn the rubble when Kakashi approached them.

“She want to see me?” Actual Naruto put another armful of debris on the fire and dusted off his jacket.

“She wants you both. Sakura’s already there.”

Sasuke slowly poured a bucket of water on the fire, smoldering it for the time being. He looked up at Naruto and Kakashi and inhaled deeply, face void of emotion. “Let’s go.”

Tsunade leaned against her new desk, arms crossed over her chest. “The barrier was smart, but it was only a start. I don’t think anyone in the village who knows you’re out there lurking in the shadows will feel safe. You can’t be hidden. You’re too mysterious, too much of an unknown. And it’s not like letting you wander the streets will put people at ease, either.”

Sasuke looked bored and nothing she said appeared to have any effect on him. Naruto wondered if anyone in the room expected any different, but he knew he hadn’t. No matter what she said, he wouldn’t react. Sasuke didn’t think of the Lady Fifth Hokage as his superior. In fact, Sasuke mostly thought everyone was beneath him. He was humoring them all, Naruto knew. But _why_ he was humoring them, he didn’t know. Regardless, Sasuke didn’t seem eager to take up his own cause so Naruto was, once again, left to argue that Sasuke belonged in Konoha.

“You can’t send him away, Baa-chan. He saved the whole freakin’ world in the war. People will remember that if you just give them a chance. Get him out of the damned Bingo Book and that’d probably be a good first step!” Naruto glared in an attempt to show her he wasn’t bending.

“Shut up, brat. I’m not sending him away… necessarily. It’s his choice. And yours. Or Sakura’s. Or Kakashi’s.” This did, indeed, shut Naruto up. And Sasuke did react, if only for a second. He quirked his eyebrow in confusion. “He needs a guard. That has to be you, Naruto. This war gave a unique opportunity for the shinobi to see exactly what our elite are capable of, and it’s obvious to even the people of the village that Sakura and Kakashi are capable, gifted ninja. But they can’t kill Sasuke. The village will need his guard to be someone who can.”

Naruto scoffed in disgust. “I can’t kill Sasuke.”

“Hn.” Sasuke smirked at him. “Obviously.”

“Shut up, Bastard. I meant I _won’t_.”

“I think we know what you mean, idiot.”

Naruto moved to charge Sasuke and beat the smug look off his face when Tsunade hit her desk to gain attention. “You’re not going to kill him, Naruto. You’re going to live with him.”

“What?” Sasuke and Naruto spoke in unison.

“Or Sakura. Or Kakashi. He can actually live with whichever of you he sees fit and is willing to have him. But the home will be under constant barrier and when he goes into the village—and he _must_ go into the village so the villagers becomes familiar with his presence—you, Naruto must be with him. If he pisses, you’ll hold his hand.”

“What the fuck?” Sasuke was annoyed. Again. “I don’t need a babysitter. I can break any barrier you make. I’ll come and go as I please and you can’t stop me.”

“You can’t break the barrier alone if you and Naruto both use your Sage of the six paths seal to the barrier.” Sasuke narrowed his eyes. “You’re right, Sasuke. I can’t make you do anything. But if you want to stay here, this is how. It’s _your_ choice. If one of your teammates will still have you.”

Naruto thought that Sasuke looked like he would kill Tsunade. While he was fighting Naruto for the right to kill the Kages, he’d never looked as intent to kill her as he did then. And Naruto knew why. She was trying to take his power, yes. Trying to control him. To dominate him. He didn’t handle that well. That was the easy answer, though. It was the answer those who didn’t know Sasuke as well would assume was the motivating factor behind his anger. But Naruto knew it was because she was making him vulnerable. She wasn’t just making him vulnerable to limitations by forcing his hand to use the Sage of the Six Paths seal, she was opening him up to rejection from the people he’d hurt. The people who they all knew had every right to close their doors to him. She wanted it. Tsunade’s face held a small smirk and a look that showed Sasuke that she wasn’t scared of him either. Naruto thought that was probably unwise of her.

“I know you’re assuming I’ll open my home to him, but I don’t think it’s a great idea. I’ll probably end up in a never ending genjitsu where he kills me over and over.” Sakura was the first to take up the metaphorical sword Tsunade left for the team to use on Sasuke. “I don’t know what good you think living with Kakashi or I would do, anyways. It’d give Naruto a break, I suppose, but neither of us could really be any more than leverage for him to use against Naruto.”

Sasuke jerked his head to Sakura, appalled she’d say such a thing and beyond defensive. “Your existence barely registers to me, Sakura, I wouldn’t use you for anything.” She threw her hands up as if to say “See?”

“I have to agree with Sakura’s sentiments, as cruelly as they were put. As you said, Lady Hokage. The people have seen our abilities showcased, as it were, during the war. No one will believe either Sakura or I are capable of being his live-in guards. Even if only temporarily.”

Naruto, who had been decidedly pensive throughout the conversation thus far interrupted his sensei with sudden conviction. “He doesn’t need a guard. It will only be for show.” He turned to Sasuke. “You have to understand better than you’re letting on. This is how you rejoin the village. This is how we rebuild. You do what you can, when you can. They’ll let you in the village without much fuss as long as they feel safe. The longer you’re here and they feel safe, the less they need you to appear to be guarded.”

“I don’t need someone to take care of me, dobe. I don’t need a buffer from a village I just risked my life to save. That my entire family was sacrificed for.” Sasuke leaned in and attempted to show confidence, but Naruto saw his hesitation. Because he knew where Sasuke was coming from and that it made his previous statements irrelevant, Naruto chose to simply ignore them.

“So you’ll live with me. I’ll go on missions, you’ll catch up on your reading. When I’m here, I’ll help you rebuild. We’ll train some genin. Maybe in a year or two, we’ll test for Chuunin. Or Jonin. Honestly, I don’t know if they make us test for them all or not. People will stop seeing you as a rogue ninja and will remember that you’re part of the ninja team who saved the world.” He put his hands behind his head and smiled like he was discussing the weather. “So can he get his family’s money now or what? He’s still gonna need to eat. I’m not gonna pay to feed him forever, you know.”

“I’ll make the arrangements.” Tsunade circled her desk to take her seat. “Any arguments, Sakura? Kakashi?”

“Lady Hokage, if I may, I’d be glad for Sasuke to stay with me while Naruto is on missions.” Kakashi bowed his head slightly to Sasuke and in an effort to show Sasuke’s control of the situation he added, “Should he choose.”

 _Ahhh, Kakashi gets it, too. He won’t let him feel like he’s undesirable._ Naruto thought. And he had a newfound respect for his sensei. Naruto wasn’t stupid and the events of the war had taught him plenty about Kakashi. He knew at least some of his attitude towards Sasuke was probably transference of his emotions for his own Uchiha teammate. Which meant Sasuke probably knew it, too.  But it didn’t matter. Because reasons be damned, Sasuke kept getting shown time and time again that he wasn’t alone.

As Lady Hokage dismissed them Naruto found himself thinking, _Probably a good thing since if he were alone, he’d have killed everyone and become some sort or supreme overlord by now._

Sasuke was his usual quiet self when they parted ways with Kakashi and Sakura and they headed to Naruto’s apartment. Naruto’s old apartment was, of course, destroyed during Pein’s attack, too. Before the war, he’d been so concerned with the rest of the village he hadn’t actually gotten around to rebuilding his own apartment. He had scrounged the rubble and found a few of his most precious possessions. When he came back from the war, he was surprised to see the village had made a place for him, very near to the Hokage’s tower. He was humbled when the villagers had shown him his new two bedroom place above one of the village’s shops, but now that he was going to have a roommate, he was grateful.

He led Sasuke up the stairs and unlocked his door and showed him in.

“We can go back for your things later, if you want. Maybe tomorrow. I’m pretty tired tonight, but if you want—”

“Tomorrow’s fine. I don’t have too much in the way of possessions these days.” Sasuke’s eyes narrowed and he looked at him as if he were an idiot for even suggesting.

“Uh, right. Wanna grab something to eat? I have some stuff. Not sure what you want…” Naruto took off his shoes and emptied his pockets on the counter.

“You don’t want to get ramen?”

Naruto shrugged. “We can if you want, I’m always game. They’ll deliver.” Sasuke took a turn shrugging. “Well, why don’t I show you around then I’ll call while you shower, and I’ll shower while we wait.” Sasuke nodded tightly. He showed him the living room, kitchen and main bathroom then moved down the hall to the bedrooms. He opened a door on the right next to the bathroom and said “Here’s me. I sleep here.” The room hadn’t been lived in long obviously, but it was still disheveled. It was Naruto’s room, after all. They stepped across the hall and opened the door on the left of the hallway. It was obviously the master suite. It was enormous. It even had a sitting area with a sofa and a corner transformed into a kind of office; with a desk and book shelves above it filled with books and scrolls. “Here’s you. There’s a bathroom in the corner. I think it’s stocked. I don’t know.” He made his way to the far corner to the bathroom door and Sasuke followed him. “Oh, good. You should have everything you need then. There’s extra clothes in the closet, even.”

“This is the master bedroom.” Sasuke appeared unmoved, but Naruto knew Sasuke well enough to know that he felt uncomfortable by this fact. If he were being honest, Naruto was a little uncomfortable talking about why he chose to move into the spare room instead of the master, as well. Truthfully, he’d never even considered moving into the master bedroom. His default was always to expect and accept the lesser of two options. He didn’t think about it until after telling the Hokage he’d take Sasuke in. He’d known this would be uncomfortable. So he decided to deal with it the same way he always did when Sasuke was involved: he’d make light of the situation and insult him in any way possible.

“I don’t need the space. I assume you’ll fill it up with all kinds of hair and skin creams soon enough. Let me know if you’ll need more closet space.” He walked past him and back down the hall before Sasuke stopped him by calling after him.

“How did you not know if your own room is stocked, moron?”

“Because I didn’t do any of this. It was a surprise. I dunno, the villagers did it during the war. They just showed me when I got back.” Naruto scratched the back of his neck and shrugged embarrassed. “I don’t know why. They just did.”

“Hn. So what you said they should have done for me… is exactly what they did for you.”

“No! They didn’t rebuild anything for me. This isn’t even where my old apartment was. Besides, it was way smaller. It’s …” Naruto shrugged, visibly uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going. “I think it was supposed to be a gift. Ya know. For Pein.”

“So then you earned their good will.” Sasuke’s tone sounded accusatory and his eyes narrowed. “I did not. Itachi did not.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying, bastard. Stop twisting things. They don’t even know –” Naruto’s scowl met Sasuke’s. “Ya know what? It doesn’t matter. Go shower. I’ll order.”

* * *

When Sasuke came out of the shower, the food had just arrived. Naruto was right, he’d had everything he’d needed and he felt like the distance between himself and his dirty clothes and destroyed home shed him of the burden bearing down on his shoulders as constant reminders of his responsibilities. That knowledge left him angry. It was dangerous for him to feel that freedom; he was the only one left to take responsibility for the Uchiha; for better or worse.

“Here, I got you pork miso. Or eat my ramen. Whatever you want. I’m gonna go shower.” Naruto grabbed a change of clothes from his room and entered the bathroom.

Sasuke took the time to wander around the apartment while Naruto showered. He started in Naruto’s room, damned sure that Naruto wouldn’t be happy with it, and positive he’d never know. He wasn’t too terribly interested in Naruto’s possessions, mostly they were as expected, but he did note that there was a decent sized ornate chest on the dresser locked. He smirked. No lock existed that he couldn’t pick. As he opened it he saw on top lay a copy of Jiraiya’s book, A Tale of a Gutsy Shinobi. Sasuke had read the book while he was living with Orochimaru, surprised and curious to find it in his library. When he looked under the book, however, he did pause. It was the picture of Team 7. He’d known Naruto had kept it long after he left, but that he could have found it in his apartment’s rubble—More, that he took the time to search through what must have been a colossal mess to find this specific picture, surprised him. Naruto, after all the time he’d known him, still surprised him with his sentimentality. He lifted the picture to find something even more surprising and even more sentimental: Sasuke’s forehead protector.

Sasuke didn’t touch it. If there was anything underneath that, he didn’t want to know. That was as far as he could go down the rabbit hole of Naruto’s emotions. He put everything back and felt anger. At Naruto for being so stupid and stubborn after all these years; at himself for violating Naruto’s privacy. And felt no small amount of guilt for hurting his sensitive friend. He went back to the living room and noted that through the picture window there, you could see the 5 Hokage Monument perfectly. It was really an amazing view of the village he’d once called home and he found himself wondering if that was now his plan. _Am I going to call this home again? Will I ever feel like it’s where I call home? Did I ever belong in the first place?_ Uchihas clearly did not have a great history in the village. Treason, attempted Coup d’état, assassinations, conspiracy, betrayal … World fucking domination. He didn’t know if it would work, no matter what he did and he felt nothing but anger at Naruto for putting him in this position. _If it weren’t for fucking Naruto, I’d never be back here, trying to convince insignificant people I mean them no harm._ No sooner had the thought occurred than its retort was breathed in just above a whisper. “If it weren’t for Naruto, I’d have nothing.” _And nowhere to go._

Naruto exited the bathroom dressed in pjs, and looked at him standing in the middle of the living room curiously. _If it weren’t for Naruto, I’d have no bonds left._ He glared at him momentarily and exhaled slowly, his anger dissipating with his breath.

“I was waiting for you to eat.”

“…oh. Um. Ok. Lemme get the plates. We can set the table and eat like normal people.”

They ate in silence, Naruto unsure what to say, and Sasuke content not speaking. After they finished, they fell in sync with each other without words; Sasuke washing the dishes, Naruto drying. When Naruto placed the last dish in the cabinet, Sasuke touched his shoulder. Naruto jerked and he hit his head on the cabinet door. Amongst Naruto’s profanity, Sasuke held either side of Naruto’s head and tilted from side to side to inspect and make sure there was no wound. The action was so unexpected Naruto jerked at that, too. Sasuke’s lips thinned and he continued his quick inspection before leaning back against the counter, hands on the counter on either side of him.

“If you jerk every time I touch you, this is going to be a very awkward stay.”

“You’re going to keep touching me?” Naruto’s voice sounded entirely too eager and Sasuke could tell that Naruto immediately regretted the tone. “I just mean, why are you touching me?”

Sasuke shrugged and exhaled heavily. “I was just getting your attention. Then I was making sure you didn’t damage yourself, Dobe.” He searched Naruto’s face for any kind of sign he was upset but found none. This was new territory for him and he was suddenly unsure how to proceed. “Isn’t that the kind of thing roommates … friends… usually do?” He said ‘friends’ with hesitation, knowing it was such a loaded word in their relationship.

Naruto positively beamed. “Yeah! I mean, that’s what we are, right?” Sasuke had said it a few times now, so he knew Naruto wasn’t asking because he didn’t know. He was asking because he just liked hearing Sasuke say it. He rolled his eyes.

“Go to bed, Dobe.” He pat Naruto’s shoulder as he walked past him and closed his new bedroom door behind him.


	3. Nightmares

Naruto woke with a start to the sound of banging and groaning. He shot out of bed and into Sasuke’s room only to find no one else in the room, just Sasuke. He was sitting in a reclined position with pillows propping him up but he was banging his head on the headboard of the bed.

“Sasuke?” Naruto turned on the bedside lamp and sat down next to him, touching his arm. No response. He shook his arm lightly at first, then firmly. Nothing. The banging continued. The groaning, which Naruto now knew was coming from Sasuke, continued as well. Naruto scoot closer grabbing both his arms and shook him more still. He said his name, yelled his name, no effect. He put a pillow behind his head and the banging, which didn’t stop but no longer looked like it hurt so badly. Occasionally he’d hear a moan or cry come from Sasuke that almost sounded like a word. He thought he’d heard _Niisan_ once and then _Itachi_. It was enough to make Naruto painfully aware of what Sasuke was dreaming. He pulled on Sasuke’s legs so he was no longer reclined in the bed but that seemed to make matters worse. Sasuke’s arms began to flail to his face and his groans became more intense. When Sasuke scratched himself enough to mark his face, Naruto panicked. He couldn’t think of anything else to do, so he laid down next to Sasuke, and held his head to his chest with one hand and pinned his arms down with his other arm. Sasuke immediately calmed some and Naruto exhaled.

“There we go. It’s ok, you’re ok.” His voice seemed to soothe Sasuke further so Naruto kept repeating himself until he was just whispering Shhh and petting him as if he were a child. After some time like this the groans and flailing long gone, Naruto heard another sound from Sasuke: Snoring. Naruto smiled and eased his hold.

He lay that way for just a few moments before attempting to get up. When he pulled away, his body was followed by Sasuke’s and he heard Sasuke very distinctly whimper. _Did Sasuke Uchiha just whimper … for me?_ Sasuke’s brows were furrowed in distress and Naruto eased back into bed, wrapping his arms back around his friend watching his face as he did so. Sure enough, once Naruto was back to holding him, his face smoothed and Sasuke latched onto his clothing. _Well, there goes the getting up plan._ He felt ten feet tall. In the back of his mind, he was infinitely worried about the night terrors Sasuke had, absolutely. But he couldn’t help that the overwhelming thought running through his head was that he fixed Sasuke. HE did. And, even if he wasn’t consciously doing it, Sasuke was doing everything in his power to keep him there. Sasuke needed him. And in his sleeping state, was completely unashamed of that fact. Naruto’s last conscious thought before falling asleep was _He’s going to kill me when he wakes up and finds me in his bed._

* * *

Sasuke woke to the sunlight the next morning as he usually did. He was warmer than usual and, while he was used to waking in new places being on the move as much as he had been for the last few years of his life, the warm, safe feeling was completely foreign to him. The snoring, he realized was vaguely familiar. But definitely not usual. He had become aware enough to remember that he was staying with Naruto, now. But the snoring shouldn’t be so close and what the hell was wrapped around him like a snake sucking the life out of him? He looked up and saw Naruto’s face and jumped out of his grasp and to stand next to the bed, jostling Naruto awake.

“Five more minutes.” Naruto tried to roll back over, but Sasuke wasn’t having any of that this and kicked him with his bare foot.

“What the fuck are you doing, Moron?”

“Huh?” Naruto opened his eyes slowly and looked confused as well for a moment. Then he looked sheepishly at Sasuke. “Oh. Yeah. I don’t think you’re going to take this well…”

“Answer me, Naruto. Why are you in my fucking bed? I said we were friends, I didn’t say you could sneak into my bed and grope me while I slept, for fucks sake!” Sasuke glared at Naruto and took a step away from the bed.

“It wasn’t like that, I promise.”

“Then what the fuck is it like?”

“You were having a nightmare, I think. I couldn’t wake you.” Sasuke took great effort in trying not to react to that, but the truth is that he knew that was common. It was the reason that he only slept a few hours at a time and why when he did, it was always completely isolated and barricaded in, so no one could get to him while he was vulnerable. He thought he’d locked the door last night, so he quickly checked and sure enough, Naruto had broken the door handle.

“Did you think maybe the lock meant something, dobe?” He pointed to the door knob hanging loosely from the door. Naruto’s reaction was one of surprised sheepishness.

“Oh, uh… I didn’t realize I did that. Sorry.” He shrugged and smiled weakly. “You were moaning and there was a banging, I thought you were in trouble.”

“Trouble that could only be fixed by a good cuddle? What the fuck, Naruto.”

“It wasn’t a cuddle!” Naruto yelled defensively and then reconsidered. “Well, it didn’t start out as a cuddle.” He tried to laugh, but Sasuke’s scowl stopped him so he rushed to explained as best he could. “OK, I heard you, thought you were in trouble, saw you were dreaming, but I couldn’t wake you and I couldn’t stop you. You kept beating your head against the headboard. When I scoot you away from the headboard, you started throwing your arms all around and you were hurting yourself. I just held you down until you calmed down. Which you did pretty quickly after I ‘cuddled’ you, by the way! And then you latched on like a leech. I couldn’t get out of your grasp without you whining like a little kid. So I stayed. And I guess I fell asleep. That’s how that happened. I swear.”

He stood up, gesturing with his hands to try to calm Sasuke’s anger. But as soon as Naruto stood, they both noticed at the same time that Naruto, who was only wearing light pajama pants and a t-shirt, had an erection. He tried laughing again, turned away and tucked himself into the elastic waistband as best he could. “Heh… Morning wood. Whatcha gonna do? Heh heh… Yeah… I’m gonna go to my room now.”

“Yes. You should definitely do that, fucking idiot.” Sasuke closed his eyes as Naruto left completely baffled by his morning.

* * *

If he were completely honest, he wasn’t nearly as upset about Naruto being in his bed as he wanted to be. He couldn’t remember feeling so rested in his entire life. Waking up feeling safe was entirely foreign to him but he couldn’t say he hated the feeling. That bed had been the most comfortable one he’d ever slept on.

He heard Naruto clanging in the kitchen and recognized the sound of cereal. He was in no hurry to join Naruto so he laid back on his pillow and sank back into the bed like it had been made for him. He couldn’t make sense of it, but that bed really was more restful than any he’d had before. He thought he may even be able to go back to sleep. He curled up under the covers again and pulled a pillow into his chest and face breathing deeply and feeling his muscles relax.

It didn’t take long for Sasuke to realize why he was relaxing so easily in the bed. He shot up out of the bed like it was made of snakes. The bed smelled like Naruto. It wasn’t the bed that made him sleep so well. The bed was insignificant. It was Naruto that put him at ease.

“Fuck.”

* * *

“My door knob’s broken.” Sasuke had dressed and when he came into the kitchen, Naruto had sat watching TV just a few feet away in the living room.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll get a new one.” Naruto didn’t even look away from the TV, still eating his cereal.

“Will it stop you tonight when I have nightmares?”

That got his attention. He turned to face Sasuke. “What do you mean? You have nightmares every night?” Sasuke didn’t look at Naruto but he nodded. “Well, I won’t promise I’m going to let you bang your head on the wall all night, no. But I guess I could try to … not … cuddle you?”

“Then don’t bother with a new knob. I can make the old one workable, but the lock won’t work anymore.” He sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the living room with his own cereal. “Apparently locks mean nothing to you anyways.” Naruto was obviously caught off guard by Sasuke’s casual tone. “Just don’t get creepy when you’re trying to calm me down. Understand?”

“Um, yeah. Of course.” Naruto eyed him suspiciously as if he were expecting a catch any minute. But none came. Sasuke was watching the TV and ignoring Naruto.

After a few minutes, Sasuke spoke again without looking away from the TV. “I’m sorry I woke you last night.”

Naruto’s eyes widened slightly, never really having heard an apology from Sasuke. In case this was a rare gem, he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He chose that as an opportunity, though, to ask about the dreams. “You spoke in your sleep. Did you know you did that?”

Sasuke shook his head, glancing over at Naruto briefly with one eyebrow lifted. “I don’t usually have too many bed mates.” Naruto chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.. “What…” Sasuke cleared his throat. “What did I say?”

“Just his name.” Naruto didn’t say anymore. They both knew what ‘he’ Naruto was talking about.

Sasuke nodded, his stare focused on his cereal. “Makes sense. That’s all I ever dream about.”

* * *

The next night Naruto had to go back into Sasuke’s room to stop his nightmares. This time, he did manage to make it out of Sasuke’s bed afterwards though. But he didn’t make it far before the groaning started back. He’d decided to pull the sofa over to the foot of the bed and lay there, petting Sasuke’s leg to comfort him back into sleep. It worked like a charm and he wasn’t cuddling him to sleep. _He’d better not be pissed about this._

And sure enough, Sasuke wasn’t bothered at all. The next morning he regarded the sofa with Naruto on it, hand on his calf, content with the compromise.

The next day would start an average work week for Konoha. The entire village had been on hold for a while after the Shinobi had returned; everyone wanting to give the ninja a full rest. But it was time for life to start again. And Naruto was part of that. Hell, Sasuke was part of it, too, now. He wondered how he’d fit in Naruto’s life then. And what the hell he’d do with his own life.

* * *

They’d fallen into a routine, after a while. Naruto would get up each morning and leave to check in with the Hokage for orders. Sasuke would get up shortly after and read another book, meditate, clean, meander around the apartment. Naruto would often come home for lunch and he’d either go out with him or Sasuke would make lunch. Naruto may or may not go back to work, depending on if there were missions for him or not. Sometimes Naruto would have errands he’d take Sasuke on. Often they’d grocery shop. After a couple weeks, and after much convincing on Naruto’s part, the Hokage allowed Naruto to bring Sasuke with him to the training grounds and they often spent their afternoons sparring. It was a normal, comfortable life for them both.

But then they’d go to sleep. And they both knew how it would end; and it was completely different from how it started. Naruto wasn’t sure why he continued to go to bed in his room. He’d barely get an hour’s sleep there most nights. It had been three months since Sasuke had moved in and every single night, he’d had to go in and comfort Sasuke into a more restful sleep. Each morning they found each other in such close proximity it was difficult to deny how important the closeness was. Each morning Naruto found himself in Sasuke’s room brought him more confidence in their friendship. He found himself more comfortable around Sasuke than he’d ever been, and Sasuke let them foster a friendship that was almost… normal.

But Naruto couldn’t help the awkwardness of first few moments when they woke up. Every morning. It was just a thing they refused to acknowledge. And Naruto didn’t know what to make of it. It was obviously not something he’d ever done with any of his other friends. He’s not even sure he would. He’d probably have taken Sakura to Lady Tsunade to try to help her. Why hadn’t he done so with Sasuke? Why hadn’t Sasuke tried to fix his problem in ANY other way? Naruto knew the reason they weren’t talking about it is because they didn’t want the answer to these questions. He definitely did not want to admit to Sasuke the reason he wasn’t looking for another solution: He much preferred this method. And he didn’t want to find out that Sasuke didn’t.

* * *

It was well before daylight when Sasuke woke. He knew he wasn’t rested enough and he’d require more sleep but he had to use the restroom. He slipped his ankle out of Naruto’s grasp and went to the bathroom. When he returned, he lay back down and attempted to fall back asleep. But Naruto wasn’t touching him anymore. He exhaled sharply in frustration that it mattered at all. He tossed and turned trying to find a spot comfortable enough to fall asleep. He tried to will himself back to sleep. He put a pillow over his foot to try to trick his mind into thinking it was being touched. He tried petting himself to try to trick his brain into thinking he wasn’t alone. He finally tried to maneuver his foot back into Naruto’s grasp, but Naruto was too soundly sleeping. _This is so fucking stupid._ He sat up, took in Naruto’s position. The sofa was pushed up against the foot of the bed, the back of the sofa blocking Naruto in and he was lying on his side facing the bed, his leg and arm half tossed on the bed. Sasuke grabbed a pillow, buried his face in it and growled loudly in frustration.

Sasuke tossed the pillow down beside Naruto’s head and crawled down to lay horizontally on his bed next to Naruto. He rolled to his side to face Naruto and pulled the covers over them both. He threw one of his legs over the leg Naruto had on the bed, and pulled the hand Naruto had on the bed over to touch his cheek. He watched Naruto’s face start to wake and decided he didn’t want to immediately have to confront his actions so he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. It was a coward move and he was not proud of it. He felt Naruto’s muscles tighten and his hand lift when he woke fully and saw the compromising situation that Sasuke had put them in. He didn’t know if Naruto knew Sasuke had done it on purpose or if he thought it was something sleepy Sasuke had done. He could feel Naruto had not moved his hand completely away and he felt the warmth of his skin as his hand hovered no more than an inch away from his face. He couldn’t stand the curiosity anymore and he risked peeking one eye open, timid. What he saw took his breath away.

Naruto’s face was one of wonder. His eyes were wide and Sasuke knew Naruto had thought he was asleep. When he first saw Naruto, he cringed slightly with resentful embarrassment. Naruto’s reaction had him convinced showing embarrassment was definitely worth it. Naruto’s bright blue eyes twinkled in amusement and he smiled widely for a second before he slowly lowered his hand to where he’d found it when he woke; back on Sasuke’s face. His eyes then changed to resemble a deer in headlights, wondering if he was in going to be in trouble. Sasuke’s embarrassment faded to pleasure and he briefly closed his eyes in contentment under Naruto’s touch. He smiled slightly and decided he could probably go back to sleep now. Naruto brushed his thumb back and forth on his cheek and as he fell back asleep he felt Naruto’s foot rub his and without thinking, their legs intertwined.

From then on, Naruto started the night sleeping on the couch in Sasuke’s room. He was very rarely woken by Sasuke’s bad dreams and even more rare was it for him to wake up in the morning with Sasuke lying vertically in the bed.


	4. This is Mine

Sasuke woke when the shower started. Six months he’d been living this life and he’d still not fully grasped why he could sleep through Naruto’s snoring but as soon as the shower started, he was wide awake. In the beginning of their new arrangement with both in the same room, Naruto was showering in the guest room, still. But as the days and weeks went by, Naruto had begun to occasionally shower in ‘Sasuke’s’ bathroom. Sasuke suspected his body had jolted awake when it knew Naruto was awake because it physically felt his absence. But after waking and acknowledging he was still safe in Naruto’s apartment, he could usually just roll back over and sleep in some more. It’s not like HE had a mission that required he be up before dawn. So he tried. And failed. Naruto forgot to close the door so the light shone into his room and onto his bed.  Sasuke scowled at the light, tossed his covers off and stood up to close the door. He took a few shuffled steps and stopped.

The door wasn’t completely open, only about six inches and he could see Naruto facing the mirror with his back mostly to Sasuke. He was dancing and using his toothbrush as a microphone while his other hand secured the towel out around his waist.  Sasuke hadn’t heard the radio from his bed, but now that he was closer he could just faintly. It was the first time in Sasuke’s memory that his immediate reaction to Naruto was … affectionate. He found himself smiling and couldn’t seem to stop it. He couldn’t stop his body from leaning up against the door jam, either. So he watched on, amused as Naruto stopped his performance and finally used the toothbrush for its intended purpose. He didn’t know why, but he kept watching as Naruto finished brushing his teeth and moved onto shaving. While concentrating on the task at hand, Naruto must have moved just enough that his towel dropped onto his feet. It surprised him enough to jerk his head down and cut his cheek.

“Shit” he muttered. He grabbed a tissue and tended to his wound leaving the towel discarded on the floor. Being a jinchuriki and this being a very minor injury, Naruto had stopped bleeding within seconds, but he still had to clean up the blood that had flowed and doing so had left his towel discarded on the floor. It also left his naked body completely exposed to his unknown observer.

Sasuke straightened off the wall and dropped his arms. He knew Naruto had an exquisite physique, he’d seen him shirtless countless times. He’d even seen him in bathhouses naked before. For some reason, though, this unexpected nakedness inspired an entirely new reaction in Sasuke. His heart thumped and he felt a stirring in the pit of his stomach that he’d only felt a half dozen times or so. Blood rushed everywhere. It moved to his head and made his vision start to darken and his groin throbbed with blood. His mouth went dry. He wanted Naruto.

_Fuck._

He spent the rest of the morning in bed hiding under the covers pretending to be asleep. He was not dealing with that this morning.

* * *

Naruto had left that morning on a mission from which they had no idea when he’d be returning. Naruto had left a note saying he’d be gone anywhere from a week to a month. So far, Sasuke spent most of the time in the apartment, basically, freaking out. But an Uchiha doesn’t freak out. _Yeah right._ Naruto had been gone for 4 days when Sasuke had started to accept the truth of the matter: He wanted Naruto. Which was terribly inconvenient for him. He’d just come to terms with the fact that he cared about him as a friend, how he was supposed to cope with this new development he had no idea.

Although, if he were truly honest with himself, this wasn’t exactly a _new_ development. Most friends did not care about each other as Naruto and he did. He’d never seen Shino and Kiba go to the lengths he and Naruto had in their friendships. Even the Sannin predecessors abandoned their friendship when faced with even just half the challenges Naruto and Sasuke had. They did not have a _normal_ friendship bond. They had much more. And apparently Sasuke was the first to feel the sexual side effects of it. Judging by the lack of any kind of sexual tension for Naruto, Sasuke had to acknowledge he was actually the only one to feel any sexual side effects of their bond. Now what the fuck was he supposed to do about it?

Naruto would do anything for him, he was confident of that. The last thing he wanted was Naruto agreeing to a sexual relationship because he wanted to please Sasuke. Or worse, because he thought he had to in order to keep Sasuke around. If Sasuke made a move towards something sexual and Naruto didn’t reciprocate it could be something that irrevocably damaged their relationship. If Naruto realized that fact, too, then Sasuke knew he wouldn’t allow it. He knew Naruto would never purposely hurt him. Even if he wasn’t gay. Even if he wasn’t attracted to Sasuke. He suspected that if he made a move on Naruto, he’d find Naruto willing. But not eager. And Sasuke couldn’t help but want an eager Naruto. In fact, he found himself fantasizing about an “eager” Naruto a lot in the four days that Naruto had been gone. He really needed to wash the sheets.

* * *

_I wonder if he’s been sleeping ok…_ Naruto thought on his way home. _You mean you wonder if he’s missing you._ Kurama responded back to him. _Fuck right off,_ he shot back at his demon.

“It’ll be nice to sleep in our own beds, eh, Naruto?” Kiba called up to Naruto as they bounded through the forest a few miles outside Konoha 5 days after they’d left. The mission hadn’t taken nearly as long as they’d led them to believe and having both Kiba and Sai by his side made it almost seem easy. It had been a diplomatic mission to the Land of Sound and Naruto’s presence made it a gesture of profound respect. A gesture that was rewarded with several secret jutsu scrolls. It was late evening and they knew by the time they got home, they’d report to Lady Tsunade and go straight home. Sai had made the case that they spend another night in the land of Sound, and Kiba had reluctantly agreed, but Naruto insisted they get home tonight. He had told them he didn’t want to be Naruto the diplomat anymore, he wanted to get away from there as fast as he could. He suspected Kiba knew he missed more than his bed, but he never said anything to that point. He unhappily agreed and Sai was easy enough to sway then, as well.

They reported to the Hokage and everyone present could see Naruto visibly fidget. Tsunade finally became annoyed enough that she released them and Naruto almost pushed Sai out of the way getting out of the office. When Naruto got to his apartment, it was nearing bedtime. He wasn’t sure if Sasuke would even be awake. He was starving, so he was going to gorge on whatever was left in the fridge. He hoped Kakashi had helped Sasuke with the groceries. He opened the door and was relieved to see lights on. When he walked in further, he heard the shower going. He went into the spare bathroom to use the facilities and he noticed the washer was open and loaded, but not yet run. He peered in out of curiosity and noticed the sheets to Sasuke’s bed. Getting closer, he smelled something faintly of _sex_.

His stomach sank and it occurred to him for the first time that Sasuke may not be alone. He finished his business and cautiously walked to Sasuke’s room where he peered through the open door making sure there was no sexually exhausted woman in the bed. He found the bed made with new navy blue sheets Sasuke had apparently got and the bed was pristine. All except his obvious pillow of bright orange. It was no longer at the foot of the bed or on the sofa, which was still pushed up against the foot of the bed. The blanket he had used on that sofa was gone though. He felt a whirlwind of confusion and hurt. Why had Sasuke removed his blanket? Had he gotten used to living here without Naruto and no longer wanted him in his room? If that was the case, why didn’t he remove his pillow, too? Or put a new pillowcase on that? Why wasn’t the sofa put back in place? Naruto obviously wasn’t using it.

He pushed the thoughts back and thought he’d better let Sasuke know he was back, so he wouldn’t be angry if Naruto caught him walking around naked. He pushed the door open just slightly to call to him, but he heard Sasuke say his name first. But it sounded … weird. He slowly poked his head in the door to see the hot water of shower had steamed the entire room up, even with the door partly open, which meant Sasuke had been in the shower for quite a while. When Naruto looked in the clear shower stall, he saw the most erotic thing he’d ever seen in his whole life.

Sasuke was leaning his shoulders against the glass door, facing away from Naruto. Sasuke’s ass was pushing against the glass periodically and Naruto could tell he was thrusting into his hand. He wasn’t under the water anymore, the stream had been aimed away from his body and Naruto was familiar with why that would happen: He’d been pleasuring himself for long enough for the water to cause worry of chaffing if used as a lubricant any longer. Naruto watched as Sasuke lifted his left hand, which had been clawing at the door beside him, licked it thoroughly and switched hands for more lubrication. Naruto froze in place and it took him a moment to realize Sasuke hadn’t called out to him… He’d been fantasizing _about_ him. As if to drive that point home further, Sasuke smacked his right hand on the glass next to him and thrust into his left hand wildly and clearly _moaned_ “Mmmm, Naruto, fuck.”

Naruto ran. He left as quietly as possible, and for Naruto, that meant without a sound.

* * *

Sasuke felt Naruto’s chakra flee the apartment, and fast. He slumped against the shower door with a sigh. _At least one question answered._ Naruto hadn’t been eager. _At least not yet._ Sasuke had known that it was unlikely to lure Naruto into joining him in the shower with just a mutter of his name, but he had hoped. He had also hoped Naruto would forget the fact that they could feel each other’s essences from long distances and apparently he’d been validated there. Although he definitely wished he’d been wrong about that hope and right about his eagerness instead.

He tried to refocus on his plan: The seed had been planted. Naruto now knew Sasuke was interested in a sexual relationship and he’d never had to actually broach the subject with him. Now he just had to wait to see if Naruto approached him. Which would be torment, he already knew. In the meantime, he went back to his fantasy, only this time, his fantasy revolved around punishing Naruto for not joining him in the shower.

* * *

Ichiraku sounded like a good plan for Naruto. He thought he’d give Sasuke the opportunity to… finish his business and then go back home. It’d give him a chance to try process what he’d just seen, too. Never in a million years had Naruto thought Sasuke would have sexual feelings towards him. He’d honestly never consciously thought of Sasuke in a sexual way. But as soon as it became a realization, Naruto knew that those feelings were emphatically reciprocated. The problem, Naruto thought, was the seriousness of the emotions he felt in conjunction with the sexual feelings. There was zero chance Naruto would be able to have a sexual relationship with Sasuke and still maintain the friendship they had as it was.

The way he saw it, there was two possibilities if he acknowledged the sexual aspect: One, They could try fuck buddies. His brain melted just thinking of that term. He tried processing that for a few minutes. He could have _sex_ with Sasuke Uchiha. He thought Sasuke may just want it, too. He had to, at least a little, based on the scene he’d walked in on. He remembered the scene and realized the erection it had given him had not gone down the entire time he’d been eating. He thought how wonderful it could be to have a relationship with Sasuke that resulted in them both enjoying each other in bed but not having to deal with any pressure outside the bedroom. But he realized that meant it wasn’t permanent. And that Sasuke would likely take other lovers. Other people would touch him. Comfort him. Eventually Sasuke would have _them_ ease him at night, in multiple ways. _Yeah, Fuck that. That’s not happening._

Two, the ideal one. They developed a serious, exclusive relationship. Happily ever fucking after. Unless it ended. But Naruto didn’t doubt the commitment he’d have when it came to his significant other. He’d never been in a relationship before, but he knew himself and his determined spirit well enough to know that once he committed to something, or someone, there was no separating himself from that goal. He already knew from experience that he’d never give up on Sasuke. This was definitely preferable to letting anyone else touch Sasuke. Ever. _Mine._ Naruto wasn’t sure if that was his internal growl or if it was Kurama. He actually found he didn’t care. He knew what he meant.

So he knew his preference of outcome. How did he find out Sasuke’s? What if Sasuke wasn’t interested in pursuing it at all? What if it had been a random thought that spontaneously came upon him mid masturbation? He’d had those all the time. Neji came, unplanned, to his mind often, though he blamed that on missing him. He never really considered himself “gay” but then he’d never really considered himself “straight” either.

Ichiraku’s owner came over and told Naruto he was closing up. Naruto smiled, paid and started walking home to his apartment. He considered for a moment sleeping at Kiba’s. But Sasuke was sealed in the apartment. It was shitty of him to leave him there alone, no matter how awkward. He unlocked the door praying that Sasuke was asleep.

He was rewarded with that being the case. He walked in and saw the lights were all off and when he got to Sasuke’s room, he saw him fast asleep. What made his heart want to explode was the fact that Sasuke wasn’t just sleeping peacefully on his own like Naruto had been insecure about. He was lying at the foot of the bed, on top of his new sheets, legs stretched onto the couch, clutching Naruto’s pillow and tucked underneath Naruto’s blanket. And the last straw? _Sasuke was wearing Naruto’s fucking pajamas._

_Yup. I’m in love._ Naruto was resolute, from that moment on. He wedged his legs between the sofa and the bed, making sure Sasuke didn’t fall and kicked the sofa back against the wall. It banged loudly and Sasuke woke with a start, Sharingan flaring, and sat up at the end of the bed in front of Naruto. Naruto saw Sasuke’s shoulders visibly relax when he realized who he was, but he didn’t say anything. Naruto leaned forward putting a hand on either side of Sasuke on the bed lifting his leg to rest his knee next to Sasuke’s and nodded his head up, motioning for Sasuke to scoot. Sasuke’s Sharingan was still active, but Naruto knew he didn’t need it to see his predatory look. His own eyes were probably glowing red, for fuck’s sake. And Naruto had never seen Sasuke react like he was; he actually looked ... kind of  _nervous?_  And damned if that wasn’t just the sexiest thing Naruto had seen in the last two hours.

Sasuke was noticeably shaken and yielded unquestioning to Naruto’s presence and scooted back onto the head of the bed. He blinked and his Sharingan faded. Naruto followed him, hovering no more than 6 inches above him at all times. Sasuke licked his lips and tilted his head, searching Naruto’s predatory face. Naruto took in the uncertainty of Sasuke’s face and lowered his head to break their contact for a few moments. He closed his eyes and inhaled, exhaled, inhaled until he’d calmed himself down. When he looked back at Sasuke, he gave a weak smile, and Sasuke smiled back and exhaled a small relieved chuckle.

“You’re back early.” Naruto pulled his pillow back up to the head of the bed and grabbed his blanket. He held the blanket up over the two of their bodies as the both laid down, Sasuke on his side facing away from Naruto, Naruto facing him. He placed his feet in between Sasuke’s and Sasuke used his top foot to pull him closer. Naruto buried his face in Sasuke’s hair breathing in his smell.

“Mmmhmmm” Naruto wrapped his arm around the front of Sasuke’s chest and lightly grabbed the pajama shirt directly above Sasuke’s heart. “This is mine.”

Based on Naruto’s snuggling in, Sasuke thought it was clear they were going to go directly to sleep. Sasuke tried to decide if he was talking about the pajamas, his body, or his heart. Ultimately it didn’t matter. The answer was the same for all three. “Yes.”


	5. Not Alone Anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, Sasuke's emotional, Naruto's emotional. Kinda OOC, but it's how teenaged boys *should* freakin' be when they go through the shit these two have.

On the very rare occasion that Kakashi had taken Sasuke somewhere with him, Naruto got his apartment to himself. Not that Naruto minded not having a lot of alone time. He knew what he was signing up for volunteering his home for Sasuke to live in with him. And, truth be told, he’d always wanted to live with someone. Living with Sasuke not only made sense, being that he was his best friend, but he was also an ideal roommate. He sometimes cooked, and he was an amazing cook. He cleaned up, he nagged Naruto to do the same. They still bickered and fought (and often) but when it came down to it, they complimented each other in housework and in living as well as they did fighting.

Today Kakashi had taken Sasuke to the training grounds for a few hours and then to lunch. Sasuke was only comfortable practicing genjutsu or taijutsu out of respect for his former sensei and for the comfort of his fellow villagers. They both knew Sasuke would be playing down his skills significantly if they sparred with ninjutsu, and he had to do so with genjutsu as it was. Sasuke had properly lost at least half of the taijutsu matches but Kakashi insisted he was learning so much from his genjutsu “lessons.” Sasuke wasn’t sure how he felt about his former Sensei calling them that. It was still a thorough workout, though, regardless and Sasuke came home pleasantly tired late in the afternoon. When Sasuke arrived, Naruto was standing by the master bedroom door, almost bouncing with excitement, red and white paint all over his clothes.

“What did you do, Naruto?” he asked cautiously, obviously being able to tell he’d done something big by Naruto’s excitement. But Naruto’s moods were not always an accurate mirror of how Sasuke would react to a thing. Naruto motioned into the bedroom indicating Sasuke should come to look for himself.

On the wall opposite Sasuke’s bed, above the dresser was a large red and white fan; the Uchiha family crest. They were both silent for a few moments.

“What gives you the right to put  _ that _ in  _ your _ home?” Sasuke’s voice was quiet and lethal.

Naruto’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Sasuke, you know I meant it to be a gift, not some claim to your family.”

“Are you sure? You are not an Uchiha, Naruto  _ Uzumaki _ . Put your spiral shit all over the walls, leave my fucking family to ME.”

“I will! Fucking hell. I wanted to show you that this is your home, too.”

“Then I should get say what goes on the god damned walls, don’t you think?”

“Fine. Take it down, then. And then your family crest will be shown NO WHERE.” He knew this would resonate deeper with Sasuke. Sasuke had stopped rebuilding his clan’s estate months ago. He had no clothes that bore the Uchiha crest, even. “That’s way better, isn’t it? For them to have nowhere or nothing to honor them?”

“Honor them?! What, here? In Konoha? Do you even understand what your idiot mouth just said? You want me to honor a family that had to be completely assassinated because their treachery was so deep? That begot two members who damned near ended the whole fucking world? Just two people, Naruto! TWO. And I’m supposed to what? Remind the whole village of how close they were to nothingness at my family’s hands? How if just two people can be that close, that somehow this ONE person of the same blood is safe? To be trusted? You want me to earn the acceptance of this village and still fucking remind them of everything that they almost lost? Some actually did lose EVERYTHING to my blood. I’m sure Hinata would be thrilled to see this crest. And they’ll be completely ok seeing that fucking fan?” Sasuke was out of breath yelling so fiercely at Naruto. The angrier Sasuke got, though, the calmer Naruto was. His face had softened and he’d crossed his arms across his chest in a show of patient resolve.

“Itachi.”  Sasuke froze immediately and his eyes instantly watered. “I will honor him.” Naruto moved slowly, looking at his painting and reverently touched it. “I’ve spent my entire life admiring this crest; chasing it. I’ve never felt anything but respect and love for it. The Uchiha family had some real assholes. In that way, they’re no different from any other family. The difference lies in the incredible power they had. And I know all too well what it feels like to be feared and hated because of the power you possess. I will not hide pride in this fan because of their fear. You are the last Uchiha. But you are not alone, Sasuke. You never will be.”

Naruto grabbed the paint brush and took Sasuke’s hand and placed the brush in his hand. “But I won’t have you uncomfortable in your own home.”

Tears swelled in Sasuke’s eyes as Naruto left the room. He fell back on the foot of the bed staring at his family’s crest Naruto had painted on the wall opposite him. No matter how lost he felt, Naruto had always had a way of pulling him home; of leaving him feeling raw and exposed. He hated how vulnerable Naruto made him in one single, harmless painting. He stood with angry purpose and harshly dipped the brush in paint lifting it to the wall. But he just couldn’t bring himself to cover Naruto’s work. He sighed and banged his head softly on the wall adjacent to his crest, paintbrush hand landing on the wall with a splat.

_ I’m not alone here.  _ He thought about what that meant in the simplest terms. An Uchiha is not the only family that needed representation. He shook his head and thought for not the first time that Naruto was such a moron.

* * *

Naruto was trying to finish up the report of his last mission but couldn’t seem to focus.  _ Is he painting over it or not?! _ Naruto had spent 20 minutes listening to Sasuke rustle about in his room and then heard the shower start, but he had no idea what he was doing. He hadn’t meant to make this into a fight, or an emotional event. He just wanted Sasuke to know he was wanted here. He hadn’t really known how Sasuke would react to seeing his family crest on the walls of, yes, technically Naruto’s apartment, but he hadn’t expected rage. But he probably should have, all things considered. He tried to kill him pretty much every time he’d accepted he was his friend for the first 2 decades that he’d known him. Maybe he should have considered that he wouldn’t handle a semi permanent gesture to symbolize his and Naruto’s lives inter mixing well.  _ I am an idiot. _

Sasuke walked out of his room dressed in only pajama pants and a smug smile. He had a towel around his neck and was drying his hair. He looked at Naruto with a “I got you now” expression and Naruto stood suddenly. “What did  _ you _ do?” He asked accusingly. Sasuke just shrugged and pulled a bottle of water from the fridge. Naruto took off down the hall. And Sasuke slowly followed. When Sasuke got to his room, Naruto was sitting on the bed looking at the wall, much like he’d been roughly an hour prior. He looked bewildered and finally braved a confused look at Sasuke. He looked so vulnerable, and Sasuke felt his heart clench. Sasuke knew that expression: Naruto knew what it was but was afraid to believe Sasuke had done it. Afraid of what it may mean. He leaned against the door jam and tried to look bored. When he noticed his hands shaking, he folded them across his chest hoping Naruto hadn’t noticed.

“What is this?” Naruto whispered in a voice full of emotion.

“It’s your family crest, Idiot. An Uzumaki lives here, too, right? Only fair that you get your family’s crest molested by someone else, too.” Sasuke tried to tease Naruto but his voice was not nearly as void of emotion as he’d intended.

“But … why did you paint it on top of your fan? Why did you put them together … as one crest?” Now Naruto’s eyes were full of awe.

“Because  _ neither _ of us are alone anymore, Dobe.”


	6. Plateau

They’d entered into a sort of plateau. After they’d painted each other’s crests, they’d spoken more affectionately, more freely; they were just more  _ open _ . Sasuke had even started asking Naruto to go with him to his family estate so he could continue rebuilding. He was as happy as Naruto had ever seen him. And it was driving Naruto insane. He’d seen Sasuke pleasuring himself practically fucking chanting his name and it’d been two weeks since they’d cut the pretenses about their sleeping arrangements. Naruto had even moved his underwear and socks into the second nightstand on his side of the bed. He had his own goddamned side of the bed! So exactly what was Sasuke waiting on to just get it over with and make a move? If he wasn’t going to want more than what they had now, that would be… fucking terrible, Naruto had to admit. But he’d be able to accept it… eventually. Maybe. Naruto had spent the better part of his life chasing after Sasuke, pressuring him into something. Letting go of revenge, coming home, not killing the kages and taking over the world. He felt like he was always convincing Sasuke of something. But he wasn’t about to pressure Sasuke into having sex with him because of one sexy event. As erotic as it had been. Life fucking changing. Literally. So he decided he’d try a little passive aggressive behavior. See where that got him.  _ Now… what would Sasuke find irresistible? _

Sasuke was on edge all day and he knew Naruto knew it. His questioning glances and overly nice gestures of making breakfast, making double the clones as usual to help in the Uchiha complex restoration. However, it was clear to Sasuke that Naruto had no idea  _ what  _ had him in a foul mood and that just made him even more mad.

What had made him in such a foul mood was the way he woke up this morning. Naruto was still fast asleep, curled up beside him, pressed into his back. Not an entirely new way to wake up, but what had actually woken him was the very firm grip on his hip and the very hard erection being softly thrust against his ass. He looked over his shoulder at Naruto to find him very soundly asleep and rolled his eyes. He was NOT ok with Naruto waking him up like this and then spending all day unsatisfied.  _ Maybe, though… I can wake him with this innocent sleep thrusting… _

So Sasuke played along to Naruto’s motions. He pushed his hips into Naruto’s erection and fuck if it didn’t feel amazing. Truth be told, he hadn’t considered bottoming but this action had him wondering if he may enjoy it. Unfortunately, Naruto seemed pretty content in his happy dreamland and Sasuke had to rethink how to wake him before HE was the one in trouble. He was hoping if Naruto found himself already in a compromising position with a sleeping Sasuke, he’d continue onwards. So he placed his hand on Naruto’s arm and pulled the hair out, snapping his eyes shut just before Naruto’s opened. “Ow, what the—Oh. Mmmm.” Naruto timidly felt the curve of his hip bone in his fingers and lined his cock up along the crack of Sasuke’s ass. Sasuke thought he’d suffocate holding his breath so long. Naruto’s fingers eased their grip on his hips and he panicked, doing the only thing he could think of; he pushed back into Naruto. But he kept his eyes firmly, but convincingly closed. Naruto cursed quietly gripped Sasuke’s hip so hard he thought he may bleed, did a final shallow thrust and got up, all but running to the shower.

Sasuke had been pissed and horny all day. And Naruto was all fucking tease. There were twenty clones of him, all over. If he could just sneak away with ONE of those damned clones, he thought it may even be worth the awkwardness of the real Naruto gaining his memories after the clone was dispelled. But he convinced himself to see it through in hopes that the real Naruto would get a fucking clue and make a move soon.  _ I wonder what Naruto finds irresistible. _

* * *

Naruto had decided to say fuck shirts. He knew he had a very built and athletic physique. He’d been told it was attractive. He just was going to have to hope Sasuke thought it was, too. Luckily, it was a little warm, and he was doing manual labor. No shirt seemed plausible. But when he tossed it to the side, Sasuke just glared at him. He looked away as quickly as he could and rethought his confidence. Maybe Sasuke really just wasn’t attracted to him physically. He had to stick to the loss of his shirt though, now. It’d be awkward if he put it back on just because Sasuke was displeased at seeing his body. He was distracted with his insecurity and while attempting to hammer a nail into the bamboo floor, he caught his thumb.

“Fuck! Ow!” Naruto stood up and put his thumb in his mouth, trying to ease the sharp pain. He was caught entirely by surprise when he felt skin against his back and saw a pale hand reach around him to take the thumb from his mouth and blow lightly on it. As if in a trance Naruto’s eyes followed the path of his thumb until he met Sasuke’s gaze.

“Stop hurting yourself, Dobe. You’ve got too much left to take care of today.” All Naruto could think of when Sasuke said that was,  _ Yeah, I know. This raging boner, for one.  _ It was then that Naruto noticed the skin pushing against his bare back was Sasuke’s bare chest. He’d responded to Naruto taking his shirt off by reciprocating.  _ Fuck, this is so on. Please Sasuke, make a goddamned move! _

Sasuke’s eyes followed Naruto’s line of sight to his chest, pressed up against Naruto’s back and smirked. “I thought you had the right idea. It’s hot.” He refocused his eyes on Naruto’s thumb before kissing it lightly and handing it back to Naruto. “There. All better. Be more careful.” He backed away slowly so Naruto had a long, drawn out look at Sasuke’s lean body. After Sasuke turned away Naruto try to refocus on his work but kept thinking about Sasuke’s body. It was very different from a woman’s; that was certain. Another thing that was certain? He’d never wanted a woman this much in his entire life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they got home that night they showered separately and at the same time. Naruto tried to be courteous and since he knew the hot water would likely not last, he made his shower as quick as possible. When he got out, he put on his orange boxer briefs and went to the kitchen to start on dinner. He was rooting around the refrigerator when he heard Sasuke emerge from his room. “What’s for dinner?”

“I dunno yet, we could just do leftovers, there’s plenty from the past couple nights. We’ve got Barbeque and—Oh for Kami’s sake, Sasuke! Give me a break!” As soon as Naruto pulled his head out of the fridge, he saw Sasuke, hair still wet, was wearing only a towel and it was secured very loosely and very low on his hips.

Sasuke smirked, “What do you mean?”

“Put on some fucking clothes!”

“Says the man in his underwear!”

“Who fucking cares if  _ I _ walk around half naked? You do it and no one can get anything done the rest of the day!”

Sasuke looked at him like he was an idiot, and then his expression turned into what Naruto could only interpret as disgusted. “What’s that supposed to mean? Obviously you walking in your underwear fucking bothers me, so I’d say  _ I _ care.”

Naruto felt like he’d been punched in the gut. The bile from the implied displeasure Sasuke felt for his body rising in his stomach. “Ugh. Fuck you, Sasuke. No one’s making you look at me if the sight is so terrible, bastard.” He closed the fridge and started heading to the bedroom to get dressed when Sasuke grabbed his arm and stopped him. 

“No. Don’t. I—” He shut his mouth and dropped his arm. Naruto thought he could almost see Sasuke’s mind frantically searching for the right words.

“It’s fine. It’s not a big deal. It’s just pjs. I’ll be right back.”

“It bothers me because … the sight is decidedly  _ not _ terrible, Naruto.” Sasuke glared at him, angry he’d said those words. His knuckles were completely white where he was holding his towel so hard and Naruto could actually  _ see _ Sasuke’s heart racing in his chest. “I fucking  _ hate _ you for making me say that out loud, moron.”

Naruto smiled broadly. Victory looked good on him. “I think I already knew that, though. I saw you… in the shower. When I came home from that mission a few weeks ago. Heard you…” Naruto cleared his throat and looked at the ground “… say my name. While you…”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I know you did. I knew the second you started heading home. I can feel you, remember?”

Naruto was definitely confused by that revelation. “But then why would you…?” His eyes narrowed. “Are you mocking me? Do you think this is funny? Do you just want to see me squirm?”

“I do actually think it’s a little funny. Or at least I would if I wasn’t so frustrated right now. But no, I’m not mocking you.”

“Why the fuck are YOU frustrated?” Naruto was getting more pissed as the minutes drug on. “And if you weren’t mocking me, what the fuck was that, Sasuke?”

“I wanted to… see.”

“See what?” Sasuke just shrugged, refusing eye contact. “Well did you see what you wanted?” Sasuke shook his head. “So you know what you wanted?” He nodded. “Well, good. That makes one of us. What did you want to get out of that fucking show?”

“More.”

“More what?”

“I don’t know, just  _ more. _ ”

Naruto punched the wall beside Sasuke’s head. “I chased you all over the goddamned world, Sasuke! Do you get that? I’ve chased you for half my fucking life. I chased you all the way into my BED, Sasuke.” He stepped closer and lowered his voice until it was gravelly and quiet. Full of lust and emotion as Naruto looked directly into Sasuke’s eyes, just inches from his face. “Exactly where I want you to be, by the way. I’m not doing the chasing anymore, though. If something happens between us? It’ll be on you. I won’t live my life pressuring someone to be with me if that’s not what they really want. You wanted to see? Consider this my official statement of interest. I want you.” He reached out and touched the back of Sasuke’s wrist as it held his towel in place. He caressed the skin of Sasuke’s stomach just above the towel that he was holding with the backs of his fingers lightly and briefly. Sasuke shuddered and Naruto smiled cockily and he folded his arms across his chest taking a big step away from Sasuke. “I want you for everything though, Sasuke. I will not do this by half. Not with you. You would be mine. Forever.” Naruto paused a moment to let the gravity of that statement sink in with Sasuke. He could tell when it started to because Sasuke’s eyes went from heavy and dark with lust to wide and bright with fear. “Yeah. That. But it’s on you for the next step to happen. Because this is as far as I can go and still show any kind of restraint with you. You come to me if you want me in the same way. Understand?”

Sasuke nodded wordlessly. Naruto went to the fridge and grabbed leftover ramen and took it to his room. He slammed the door in frustration and sat on his bed, eating cold ramen. Which was exactly what his mood called for at that particular moment. It went all hand in hand. Cold ramen, raging hard on and his insides ready to explode. He felt nauseated from anxiety wondering what the hell he was going to do when it came time to sleep.  _ Am I sleeping in here tonight? What am I supposed to do if he has nightmares again? _ Sasuke hadn’t had a nightmare in months now. He’d told Naruto he hadn’t even had them when Naruto was gone on missions. Which made him feel … selfishly sad. He had convinced himself that it was his presence that kept his nightmares at bay. And just now, it was obvious in their conversation that Sasuke had wanted him. But the fear in his eyes when he said the word ‘forever’ made it equally clear that he’d not thought beyond a fuck. Which was just about the worst news Naruto could think of.  _ I’m kidding myself, here. Sasuke doesn’t need me nearly as much as I need him. _ Naruto put the empty to go container on his nightstand and growled into his pillow. Then he scooted back to the edge of the bed, put his feet on the floor, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. And tried not to cry.


	7. Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemon... ish. Adult content. Some stuff.

_ Forever?  _ Sasuke was still leaning against the door where Naruto had left him before storming off in a huff. The word seemed so … foreign to him. Of course he’d never thought about ‘forever’ with anyone. Until very recently, he hadn’t even expected to live that much past his teens. Being alone was pretty much his default. He was enjoying having Naruto with him, it was true. But forever? 

No matter what he had said, Sasuke knew Naruto wouldn’t let him go, even if things ended between them here. But no. Sasuke already knew knew in his bones, if they started a relationship, it  _ would _ never end. They’d been through too much. They cared too unconditionally for each other. He knew Naruto wasn’t asking for Sasuke to make the first move because he doubted Sasuke’s feelings had also evolved to sexual as well as their friendship. He was telling Sasuke he wouldn’t pressure him, he wouldn’t rush him into something if he wasn’t ready. Naruto was telling him that he  _ was _ ready for their relationship to be more. He was ready to commit to him in this way. He wanted it forever. And if Sasuke wasn’t sure he wanted it forever, too, then he would wait. That he knew Sasuke would be ready for that eventually. But he was showing restraint. So Sasuke found himself again asking  _ Forever? _

He thought about their life in this apartment and how it would change. He imagined being able to wake each morning in each other’s embrace without having to pretend to be asleep just to get touched. He thought how he may even be able to make Naruto happy. Not just sexually, though that was definitely something he’d given much thought to in the past few weeks. He was convinced that their sexual relationship would be much like their sparring, give and take. An amazing struggle every time. He thought how good it finally felt after a struggle with Naruto to surrender. Or how good Naruto looked when he yielded to him. He knew from experience that he would never get tired of their fighting.  He loved that energy that he felt from only Naruto. 

No, he was completely confident that their sex life would stand the test of time. And after all they’d been through in their relationship, their friendship was still the best he’d ever had. Not saying much, really, but despite his inexperience with relationships, he still recognized that they cared for each other in a way that would, and had, stand the test of time. So, he knew that Naruto would stand by him as a friend and as a lover. The tug in his heart, though… He wasn’t confident in that feeling at all. Because he’d never felt it before. Nothing he could think of had ever held the potential of consuming him as thoroughly, though. Sasuke sank to the floor.

Sasuke wondered what normal relationships were like. They seemed so boring to him most of the time, but at this second he did envy the ability to “do things by halves” as Naruto had said. He thought if he were to start dating, say Ino or Shikamaru, they wouldn’t require a lifetime guarantee at the beginning.  _ But they couldn’t have given you one either. _ No one else would have stuck by him when he did all the things he’d done. He’d never hurt anyone as much as he had Naruto. Sakura had been the closest thing and she had claimed to love him; Only to abandon her affections when Sasuke hurt her. And she should have. 

Naruto was insane to stand by him through all of the things he’d done. And a peace came over him as Sasuke realized what that meant.  _ Naruto was going to be his forever anyways. _ No matter what he chose now. No matter what his actions were. Naruto had proven time and time again that no matter what Sasuke did, he would be there for him. Naruto always  _ had _ been his, like it or not. Sasuke thought about his motivations in the past when it came to Naruto. He’d spared him and tried to kill him. He’d left him and fought with him. He’d done all these things because his feelings were much the same as Naruto’s. He’d always been Naruto’s, too.

He thought frantically, trying to envision situations that may arise that would make him abandon Naruto. He could think of none. He stood, resolute, and sighed. He adjusted his towel so it didn’t show anything and walked to Naruto’s room, blood pumping in excitement, nervousness and lust. He knocked once and opened without waiting for an answer. He let the door swing open as he leaned in the doorway, arms folded across his chest. He saw Naruto’s head in his hands and when Naruto lifted his head, he noticed his eyes were puffy. He didn’t look like he’d been crying exactly, but he could tell he was more than a little emotional. Naruto stood up, cleared his throat and tried to better compose himself. Sasuke noticed Naruto’s eyes travel his body and his eyes narrowed in anger.

“Clothes, bastard.” Naruto clenched his fists at his sides and Sasuke thought he looked like he may punch him. “We talked about this.”

_ Perfect lead in.  _ Sasuke smirked. He stood back up, letting his hand go to the towel around his waist before loosening it and letting it drop. His eyes never left Naruto as he casually walked over to just a few inches in front of Naruto. Naruto’s eyes had immediately dropped to his erection the second the towel had revealed it. When he was face to face with him, though, his eyes lifted and they were that dark blue Sasuke had come to appreciate in a very sexual way but they were full of confusion. Sasuke slowly placed both his hands on Naruto’s chest and let them slide down his stomach into the waistband of Naruto’s underwear. His eyes followed his hands and he openly devoured the sight before him, licking his lips, then biting his lower lip.

“Fuck, Sasuke….” Naruto started closing his eyes and suddenly grabbed Sasuke’s wrists and pulled his hands away before he went any further. “Sasuke, wait. Remember what I said. I can only do this if you’re prepared for—” Sasuke cut him off by interrupting.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Forever. Shut up,  Usuratonkachi.”

* * *

Naruto was still trying to process what Sasuke had said when he smiled warmly and pulled easily and slowly out of Naruto’s grasp to lace the fingers of each of his hands into Naruto’s. It was such an intimate action. It lit Naruto on fire. Literally. He flared Kurama mode and it surprised him as much as it did Sasuke. He cringed. “Fuck. Sorry. Sorry.”

Sasuke had pulled back momentarily before breaking into a wide smile and then laughter fell easily from his mouth. He pulled Naruto to him, wrapping Naruto’s hands around his waist before wrapping his hands around his neck and burying his still laughing face into Naruto’s neck. Naruto eased out of Kurama mode gently as he nuzzled into Sasuke’s neck. He ran his hands up Sasuke’s back and pulled him flush to him and froze.

“You’re still naked.”

“How observant.”

“Are we really going to go from nothing to everything in the span of 2 minutes?”

“You’ve been waking me up dry humping me for three fucking months, Baka. You  _ are _ putting out.”

Naruto pulled back to look at Sasuke and flushed, “You know what I meant. Are we like a couple now? We weren’t a few minutes ago. We are now?”

Sasuke looked at him puzzled. “We weren’t? Not a whole lot has actually changed in the last few minutes, Naruto. Just recognition of what was already there.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes. “You would take all the excitement out of this.”

Sasuke smiled at him mischievously and leaned back into his neck, letting his hands sink into Naruto’s hair and massage his scalp. Naruto had never felt anything like it and his eyelids drooped and he moaned. He was relaxing under Sasuke’s touch when he felt Sasuke’s tongue trace up his neck and to his ear where he nibbled lightly. Naruto felt one hand slide down his back and onto his hip, pulling him flush into Sasuke again as the other hand fisted in his hair, jerking his head back so his throat was completely exposed. Sasuke’s lips lightly touched his ear as he whispered huskily “Let’s see if I can bring some excitement back, then shall we?”

Naruto exhaled deeply and smiled widely. “I dunno, it’s gonna be pretty hard. You sure you’re up for the challenge?” Naruto felt Sasuke’s smile as he kissed his way from Naruto’s ear to the base of his throat before lifting his face to just a breath away. He thrust into Naruto, their groins lining up, and it was obvious that both of the men were still very excited indeed.

When he spoke, his lips lightly touched Naruto’s. “I’m pretty sure I can work with  _ hard _ .”

Naruto moved his hands around to touch both sides of Sasuke’s face and looked into his obsidian eyes, wanting to remind him that the sex part went hand in hand with the other parts, too. He wanted reassured. Just one more time. One more opportunity to take the out. If he had this, and lost it? He’d never survive it. He was terrified. He looked at Sasuke as intently as he could and was rewarded greatly. Sasuke smiled warmly at him before pulling him forward to lightly, chastely kiss his lips. Naruto kept his eyes open and noticed so did Sasuke. When Sasuke pulled away, it was only to smile again. Naruto returned the easy smile and pulled him back in for another kiss. This one may have started out slow, but it was not in any way chaste. Naruto wanted to explore Sasuke as much he would be allowed. And much to Naruto’s surprise, he was getting pretty much free reign.  _ And doesn’t that just make my day?  _

He mapped Sasuke’s lips with his tongue, sucking on the bottom lip, nibbling slightly and sure enough, Sasuke opened his mouth on a slight gasp. Naruto took that opportunity to delve his tongue in to explore but Sasuke lifted his tongue to meet his and they fought for dominance of the kiss momentarily until Sasuke yielded. Or so Naruto thought. He was actually readjusting his game plan and sucked Naruto’s tongue. Hard. Naruto thought to fight for ownership of his kiss back, but Sasuke’s suction eased and it became a show of what Sasuke could do, how good he could make him feel. He licked and kissed and nipped at Naruto’s tongue and lips until Naruto was literally weak in the knees and he began to sit back on the bed.

Sasuke seemed all too eager to join him, as soon as Naruto sat, Sasuke straddled him undulating on his lap while clawing at his shoulders and pulling his hair to get closer. Naruto’s head was so clouded, he had very few clear thoughts in his head. He was going on physical feel alone, and the only thought he could make sense of was  _ Closer. More. _ Naruto’s hands went back to Sasuke’s back, pulling him into his thrusts trying to set a rhythm. The lower his hands got, though, the more frenzied Sasuke was. By the time Naruto’s hands grabbed Sasuke’s ass cheeks, Sasuke was openly panting. “Fuck Naruto, yes.”

Naruto loved Sasuke’s voice. He loved to hear it in any capacity. Every time Sasuke opened his mouth he loved it. He’d long since figured out that it was the rarity of his voice that made it so special, but the feeling was proving only amplified by the gravelly tone in his voice while being groped. He wanted to hear more. He lifted one hand to Sasuke’s chest and pushed back until Sasuke was at about a 145 degree angle and he could properly see him. “Goddammit, Sas, you are the sexiest bastard in the world” Naruto leaned forward, licking and kissing all over Sasuke’s chest, paying special attention to each nipple. Each nip earned him a curse under Sasuke’s breath and a hitch in Sasuke’s hips. Naruto leaned them back up and mouths met and his hands went back to grasping Sasuke’s ass and using it as leverage for his thrusts.

“Naruto, oh fuck. You. Mmm. Need” Kiss. “to lose” Another kiss “the underwear.” He kissed him hard and pushed him back down on the bed, going with him. “Now.” Naruto thought that last word had been more of a growl than speech.

“Anything. Just keep talking. Fuck, you sound amazing.” He lifted his ass up, taking Sasuke along for the ride while he struggled to pull the underwear off his ass and to knee level, trying to kick them the rest of the way off, Sasuke bounced around on him.

Sasuke sat up, reached back and pulled them off harshly in one tug. “Not that I wasn’t enjoying the ride” he smirked down at Naruto and his voice made Naruto surge with lust. He sat up, too, grabbing Sasuke again by the ass and flipped them over so he was on top and in between Sasuke’s legs. He was feeling Sasuke’s skin from knee to ass, familiarizing himself with the feel of being this close. He caught a glimpse of Sasuke’s expression and realized this was the first time he’d seen him naked and hard. He felt Sasuke’s scrutiny and searched unintentionally for approval. He didn’t like his insecurities, but he was always starved for acceptance from Sasuke. Sasuke’s smirk never faded when he bent his knees on either side of Naruto’s thighs and wrapped one leg around Naruto to pull him down to him, arms wrapping around his waist.

“I think I’ll have to settle for being the  _ second _ sexiest bastard alive, Naruto.” Naruto’s brain short circuited. Not only did Sasuke think he was sexy, he thought he was sexier than himself.  _ And Sasuke’s the cockiest asshole alive. _ And his voice wasn’t gravelly, it was… reverent. He’d never heard Sasuke sound quite like it. It drove him mad. He pulled Sasuke’s legs around his waist, and one hand went to his mouth. He never broke eye contact when he licked his palm messily and placed it straight on Sasuke’s cock, while diving back down to lick and bite and his chest. “Oh, fuck Naruto.” Sasuke thrust into his palm for a few seconds before he realized this position wasn’t allowing him access to touch Naruto. He tightened his legs around his waist and drug them both onto their sides, then lowered his legs and intertwined them with Naruto’s. Naruto whimpered at the loss of being enclosed but soon Sasuke’s motivations were revealed as he pulled Naruto into him and their bare cocks rubbed against each other. They both moaned at the same time.

“Oh, fuck, Sas”

“Naruto, Mmm”

Sasuke reached between them and joined hands with Naruto and they both stroked head to base, both pressed together. It didn’t take long of this movement before Sasuke was panting.

“Ahh, mmmm, Naruto. I’m not going to last much longer.” Naruto kissed him deeply and brought his other hand around to Sasuke’s ass again. He ventured down to his hole before rubbing and teasing it. The action of touching Sasuke this way while their hands still worked the flesh between them had his head swimming. Sasuke tensed up some when Naruto pushed a finger in just slightly but he wasn’t stopping him. He didn’t even seem to lose his passion, if anything, he was more affectionate, nuzzling into Naruto’s neck, licking and kissing gently. It wasn’t long in that pattern of thrust, kiss, delve, before they were both coming in a hot blaze of blacked out vision and head rushing dizziness, Naruto first, and Sasuke immediately after.

They were both lying on their backs, panting when Sasuke looked over and said “What was that?” he tried to catch his breath.

“What, at the end?” Naruto immediately felt self conscious.

“Yeah, at the end.” He didn’t look too annoyed, but Naruto couldn’t tell if he was displeased or not.

He shrugged, embarrassed. “You said you weren’t going to last. I wanted to finish with you, so I was trying to distract you until I was ready.” Sasuke shrugged and grunted in acknowledgement but said no more. Naruto was struggling to catch his breath still and found himself worrying that he did something wrong. He hadn’t known if Sasuke had any partners before him, but he knew he hadn’t had any. He’d had a love confession before a suicidal protection attempt from Hinata, a false confession from Sakura and a handful of awkward accidental kisses from his best friend. And now a jerk off session from the same best friend. That was the entirety of his love life. The reality that while  _ he  _ had no idea what he was doing but  _ Sasuke _ very well could had him quietly panicking. 

“Um… Should I … not have…” Naruto stopped, not even sure he wanted the answer. Not wanting to think that even if Sasuke was willing to try this, that he wouldn’t live up to Sasuke’s expectations, or to his past. He shut his eyes tight and willed the moment to be over. When he heard Sasuke lightly laugh his eyes shot open and narrowed at him. “Shut up, Sasuke, I swear if you start your bullshit right now, I will hurt you.”

Sasuke stopped laughing, but a smile remained. “Are you trying to be adorable? Really. Are you going to ask me if it was good for me, now?” Sasuke leaned over to kiss him like it was the most normal thing in the world and got up. He held his hand out to him, “C’mon. You’re filthy. You need another shower.”

Naruto pouted and grabbed his hand. “You are too.”

Sasuke nodded at him. “Mmhmm. And I plan on getting much dirtier before I let you sleep.” Naruto laughed at him and followed him into the shower in the master bath. When he stepped into the shower, Sasuke immediately guided him under the water and began cleaning him off. Naruto was pleasantly surprised by the attention. And when his amused smile met the other male’s, Sasuke glared at him and redirected his attentions to cleaning himself. Naruto watched as Sasuke washed, loving the way he moved, the way he looked. Everything he did was so smooth and purposeful. He grabbed the shampoo and lathered his hands then moved to Sasuke’s hair. He took his time massaging Sasuke’s scalp, a service for which Sasuke seemed infinitely grateful. He leaned back into Naruto’s chest and reached back to caress his thighs.

“That feel good?” Naruto kissed the back of Sasuke’s shoulder and Sasuke nodded. Naruto growled with teasing resentment, “Is it good for you, Sasuke?”

Sasuke stood up and turned around backing into the water to let his hair rinse thoroughly while looking bored at Naruto. “You do realize I’m not going to talk you through this  _ forever _ , right?”

“I always say if you do a thing right once, you won’t have to keep doing it.”

Naruto could tell that Sasuke was finding it difficult to find the right words but spoke slowly and carefully. “I’m not… going to be able to get it ‘right’ enough for you. You’re the talker. I’m the doer. You should know that by know. That’s just our personalities. Stop trying to force things.”

The way he said that brought Sasuke’s past “doing” to mind and he scowled. He had no idea how to broach that subject, but since it entered his mind, he’d seized on it, not able to discard it. He cleared his throat. “Then, can I just ask questions, then? I’ll even try to accept one word answers.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. And grabbed the shampoo bottle motioning Naruto to turn around. “Fine. Although we both know this isn’t going to be a ‘one-time thing.’ And we both know you’re going to ask questions you won’t like the answers to. What do you want to know?”

“See you say that, which makes me think you already know what I’m going to ask.”

“Ask and see.” Naruto turned around and let Sasuke wash his hair. He was grateful for the excuse to not show his face when he asked the questions he was planning.

“So… that wasn’t your first… time?”

“Orgasming? No, idiot.” Naruto elbowed him lightly.

“You know that’s not what I meant”

“It actually was the first time I’d ever done that… exact thing.” Naruto flushed with both pleasure and hurt. It meant that Sasuke and he had a shared ‘first’ and that filled his heart. But the way he worded it made it very clear he had had sexual experiences. He must been more obvious in his disappointment than he thought because Sasuke pulled him back slightly to kiss his shoulder. “What else?”

“Well, what else... exactly have you done?”

“You want a list?”

“There’s a list?!”

“Not really. What are you looking for, here? Me to tell you what I’ve done, how many partners I’ve had, who the partners were, or … what Naruto?” Sasuke pulled him into the water and rinsed his hair.

“Uh… yes?”

“Hn. 3. If we count you. Which I do. Because I already told you: You’re putting out. Soon.”

“So… are you gay? Were they men, women… snakes?”

Sasuke sighed obviously annoyed with the conversation. “I don’t know what I am. It was all the same feelings with the one woman and the one other man. No snakes, asshole.” He seemed to sense what Naruto was going to ask next and put a stop to it. “No, the man was not Orochimaru. Don’t be a twat.”

Naruto exhaled in relief. “So then, it feels the same with me as it would a woman. So I guess you’re bisexual. Do I know the two… other people?”

“I didn’t say you were the same as those two. I said they were the same as each other for me. And yes. You know them. I’m not sure it’s a great idea for you to know, though. I can’t see you handling casual conversation well should they appear.” Sasuke turned off the water and opened the door, handing him a towel. “I suppose shower sex is taking a backseat to your 20 questions game.” He sighed in sarcastic disappointment.

Naruto smiled. “Rain check. What do you mean I’m not the same as them? You mean because we haven’t had sex and you did with them?” Naruto quickly dried off and walked to his nightstand getting underwear and socks. “And I can handle it. Tell me who they were.”

“Is this going to be a fight?”

“Depends. Are we not being open with each other? Is that the plan? If so, then that’ll be a fight, yeah.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he pulled on underwear, as well. “Ugh. Fine. Karin and Juugo.” Naruto stiffened and Sasuke’s eyes softened as he walked around the bed to pull Naruto’s arms around him. “And they were not the same as you for dozens of reasons. Every single one of them good, I promise.” He reached up and held Naruto’s face in both his palms. “Do I really have to tell you how you’re different from people I don’t even see anymore?” Naruto nodded and pouted, making Sasuke roll his eyes but smile. “I don’t care about them, obviously. I never felt anything but lust in those moments of … passion.”

“Multiple moments? Individual moments? … group … moments? You were on a team with them for a while.”

“Not as long as I was on a team with you. Somehow  _ we  _ managed to keep it in our pants and we’re soulmates.”

Naruto, who had been looking down his forehead against Sasuke’s jerked his head up to the word ‘soulmates’ and felt like he was glowing. He had to check to make sure Kurama hadn’t emerged. “Soulmates?” He smiled broadly.

Sasuke looked at him curiously. “Literally, Naruto. Remember? Our souls, reincarnated time after time to fight and kill each other? We broke the cycle of hate with a big dose of love? I’m actually taking words right from the sage of the six path’s mouth, Naruto. You were there. You lost a hand.”

“Oh. Yeah. That. Whatever. You lost a hand too, asshole.” He rubbed his thumbs along the small of Sasuke’s back. “I wish it hadn’t been Juugo.” He whispered looking down again.

“You don’t care about Karin, but you do Juugo? Even though I already told you neither meant what you do? Why?" He shook his head. "This is just as ridiculous as I thought it would be, Naruto. There’s a reason I’m not asking about  _ your _ history.”

Naruto squirmed. Positive this was going to be very awkward indeed. “Yeah, well, yeah…” He decided to not talk about his history just yet. Or his lack of. “I mean, I assume Karin wasn’t an ongoing thing. Judging from the way you basically ignored her and she eye fucked you the entire time we were fighting for our lives, I assume you ended it. Which means you never even got comfortable with her. No relationship. Right?” Sasuke nodded, one eyebrow quirked. “But… Juugo was by your side every second. You brought him with you. He was special to you. You were more than just lust for him. He may have even been in love with you.” 

“Maybe. But I wasn’t in love with him. He was useful.”

“How can you say that, Sasuke? You just discard other people’s feelings like we mean nothing to you. If someone loves you, you cherish it, you don’t abuse it or throw it away. It makes it hard for me to not think of how long it will be before you get bored and discard what we have.”

“Oh, you mean what  _ you _ said we’ve had for like a half hour now?  _ Nothing  _ to everything, you said. Which we both know is bullshit. We both know this part is new for  _ both  _ of us. We’ve only felt this for each other. You think I won’t worry that the only thing that drew your attention to me was that I left? If Sakura had left, you’d have chased after her, too. We both know  _ that _ , too. Besides, like you and  _ Hinata”  _ Sasuke practically spat her name “I didn’t just discard his feelings. And we were honest with each other. He knew I had no interest in a real relationship. I don’t think I was really even considering men until he approached me. He had … trouble. Controlling himself. What was inside him. Something that he hated. Particularly when he was enraged. Sound familiar? And Karin was  _ literally _ an Uzumaki. If anything, I’d think my history of lovers would only reaffirm my attraction to  _ you.  _ Idiot.”

Naruto smiled brightly."That's true." His smile fell slightly. “Still...”

“What other issue could you possibly have?”

“Well…I mean … he’s practically an animal. And he’s” Naruto cleared his throat awkwardly, “so…  _ big. _ ”

Sasuke burst out laughing. And didn’t stop. Naruto folded his arms across his chest as Sasuke damn near doubled over. “You’re afraid he was  _ bigger _ than you…  _ there? _  Oh, fuck Naruto.” More laughter.  Naruto wasn’t laughing. He knew the damage to his ego had been done, and he still wanted the answer. Sasuke was very slow to calm his laughter, but he finally composed himself and stepped back, wrapping Naruto’s arms around him again. “Can we also take a second to address that you called his curse mark an ‘animal’ when you literally have a 9 tailed fox inside you? And you’re talking to a man who can make a giant purple ninja appear from sheer will? So let’s just ignore that complaint, shall we?” Sasuke brushed Naruto’s nose with his own. “And no. He wasn’t  _ bigger _ than you where it mattered. Although his size wouldn’t have mattered for me. We didn’t do that. I mean we did. I mean  _ I _ did.  _ He _ didn’t.”

Naruto smiled slowly when realization of what that meant hit him. “So then you’ve never…  _ bottomed? _ ” Sasuke rolled his eyes again and shook his head no. “Does that mean you’re not ever planning on it, or…” Naruto let his voice trail off, knowing Sasuke knew what he was asking.

Sasuke was trying his hardest to keep his face blank, but Naruto noted a small blush reach his cheeks anyways. “I’m…” swallowed visibly, “Not opposed to it. With you.”

“Not opposed? Wow. That’s a passionate plea if ever I heard one. Why don’t we just see how it goes, I won’t make you do something you don’t actually  _ want _ to do, Sasuke.” Naruto tried to contain his smug feelings, knowing he’d baited him.

“Oh, shut the fuck up.” Sasuke was no longer attempting indifference, he was annoyed and once one emotion bled through, others came with it, and it made his blush deepen. “Yes, Naruto, I’d like you to fuck me, how’s that? Sound passionate enough?”

Naruto had anticipated it being hilarious when he got Sasuke to ask for it, but all it actually did was make his heart soar and his cock hard. He leaned forward and kissed Sasuke deeply. He pulled away slightly and kept his eyes closed. “Sounds amazing.” He whispered the words and touched Sasuke’s face, his thumb rubbing Sasuke’s bottom lip. He pulled away further and said with a bright smile, “But not right now. We should probably buy some lube first. Like loads. I wonder how much you can get in one package?”


	8. Told you so

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically just lemon. But like, a fluffy lemon. It has a lot of fluff, actually. It's like, a giant, over stuffed lemon plushy. With big cutesy eyes.

“Naruto?” Sasuke’s voice woke Naruto in the middle of the night. He was laying on his back with one hand on his stomach and the other wrapped around Sasuke who was facing away from him but his back flush with Naruto’s side.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He sounded strange, worried or like there most definitely _was_ something wrong. “It’s nothing. I’m sorry. Go back to sleep.”

“No. What is it?”

“I was just thinking. About our conversation earlier.” He sounded uncertain, hesitant. Almost scared. “I hate you, Naruto, god dammit.” He tried to get up, but Naruto pulled him back to him, turning him over as well.

“You’re freaking me out. What is it?” He searched his face frantically, touching his cheek and forcing him to look him in the eye.

Sasuke sighed deeply and closed his eyes, wincing slightly like the words caused him actual pain to produce. “How many lovers have you had?”

Naruto’s face lit up. “Oh, are you asking if it was good for me, now?” He teased, but the real joy that Sasuke cared enough about this relationship, about Naruto, to need to know even though he thought he wouldn’t like the answer. Naruto had never seen Sasuke insecure in his whole life. He couldn’t imagine that this would last long and he was damned sure going to have fun with it.

But Sasuke did not react how he thought he would. He inhaled deeply and held his breath, looking at Naruto as if he were paying very close attention. He barely heard the words as Sasuke whispered, “Was it?”

Naruto melted. No more teasing, that was for sure. He pulled him into his chest and kissed the top of his head repeatedly. “Nothing’s ever been better, Sasuke. Not in all my life.” He felt Sasuke exhale and kiss his chest. He could almost feel the gratitude in the kisses. “I’ve never had _any_ lovers, Sasuke. But even if I had, no one could compare to you.”

Sasuke entangled his legs with Naruto’s. “I don’t hate you.”

“I know.”

“Are you gay?”

“I am right now.” Naruto lowered his hand to squeeze Sasuke’s ass lightly.

“Usuratonkachi. Do you still find women attractive? Do you find other males attractive?”

“Yes I do find them both attractive. I think. I don’t really notice anything but you.”

“Do you … still love Sakura?” He said it very slowly, as if he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. And he rushed to follow up with, “I understand if you do. I know it doesn’t mean you care less for me. She’s been a very good friend to you, and she’s beautiful. Anyone can see she’s loyal to you.” He paused. Naruto still didn’t respond. Several moments passed. “Fuck.”

“No, don’t say that. I just… I don’t know. It’s been too long since I saw her like that. She’s been too friend-like for too long. She’s beat me pretty thoroughly every time I’ve mentioned it, you know. But you’re right. She’s a good friend. She is loyal to me. But she was loyal to you, too. I just don’t think she has the… longevity to be in any kind of relationship I could ever be in.”

“But if she did…”

“If she did then you’d probably be living with her and you wouldn’t want anything to do with me.” Naruto scoot down so he was eye level with Sasuke. “There isn’t a person that’s ever walked this earth who wouldn’t choose you over just about everyone. You know that. Or has it been too long since you’ve been in public? Your fan club meets on Tuesdays, doesn’t it? Yesterday we had little girls following you the entire way home giggling.”

“You really are such an idiot, Naruto.” The words had no bite, and Sasuke didn’t look upset. “First of all, I don’t have a fanclub, baka. I have a group of people who know nothing about me who like… my hair? Want to see my eyes flash red, see a cool trick. They don’t know me. And if they did, they would not love me; like Sakura. She knows me now. The only people who’ve ever really known me and cared about me are my brother and you.

“Second, those giggling girls yesterday were not there for me. You’re the hero of Konoha. I helped in the war, yeah. But most of the villagers didn’t _see_ any of that. They _did_ see you defeat Pein. They saw you raise their dead, rebuild their homes. _You_ are their protector. When are you going to start seeing yourself through other people’s eyes?”

Naruto shrugged and whispered, “That has not historically been a fun look for me.”

Sasuke leaned in and kissed Naruto as fiercely as he could. “Those days are long gone, Naruto. Even your damned fox is loved in this village. If you don’t see it, just trust _me_ . ‘Not a person alive’ can resist you once they get to know you. Keep that in mind, ok? Because I have a feeling we’re not done with this Sakura thing.” He sighed. “For now, though… at least you won’t have to worry about getting _me_ pregnant.”

Naruto snorted. “Did you just make a joke?”

“It’s a thing I’m trying.”

“I like it.” Naruto scooted back up to his pillow and yawned. “I haven’t had to wake up in the middle of the night to comfort you in a while. And this is the first time I’ve ever had to do it by speaking. I was beginning to think you didn’t need me anymore.”

“I do generally prefer you not speaking.” Sasuke scoot back under Naruto’s arm facing him, hand on his chest. “Sorry.”

“Eh. I’d rather you wake me than silently freak out alone. I’m a little wired though, now. I should go work on my report some more. That ought to wear me out.” Naruto knew that was a good idea since he hadn’t finished it last night but he still made no move to get up. Sasuke looked up at him.

“You’re not going to though, are you?”

“Heh, probably not” Naruto smiled widely. Sasuke knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t likely to get up from bed at –he glanced at the clock—3 am to do the most boring part of his job. “We could go spar?” He said it knowing Sasuke wasn’t likely to take him up on it. He probably wasn’t really up for it, either. Especially after the conversation they’d just had. He had very little in him that wanted to beat Sasuke up at the moment.

Sasuke bit his lip and smirked, running his hand down Naruto’s chest to his underwear. “I could probably wear you out in other ways, though, if you wanted.” Sasuke’s hand stroked his growing erection through the fabric.

Naruto’s voice low and rumbling, he said “Well, you _did_ wake me up…” Sasuke’s smirk turned into a full blown grin, then. He eased one of his legs in between Naruto’s as he began to shift his body in between Naruto’s legs. His kisses trailed south on Naruto’s chest and continued pumping his hand. “Fuck.” When Sasuke had reached the waistband of Naruto’s underwear, his eyes met Naruto’s and he licked just underneath. Naruto’s breath caught as he watched Sasuke pull his underwear down. He lifted his ass and his cock sprang free directly in front of Sasuke. He clutched onto the sheet beneath them and bit his bottom lip. Sasuke put Naruto’s underwear by his knees and let his fingernails lightly scratch up the outside of each of Naruto’s legs. He just contained a shudder when Sasuke gave the same treatment to the inside of his legs starting at the top, just letting the backs of his fingers brush against Naruto’s balls. He pushed his legs further apart and brought his hands back up and allowed one hand to cup and fondle his sac while the other grasped the base of his cock. Sasuke leaned in to give a light kiss to the head before opening his mouth and sucking him all the way to his throat. Naruto sat up straight and called out “Ahhhh! Kami, Sas, fuck!”

While Naruto was still deep in his throat, Sasuke swallowed and the suction was sublime. Naruto was released, and his shaft licked to tip only to be taking back in and swallowed, Released, back in and swallowed. So continued the pattern until Naruto was whimpering and begging for Sasuke. What for, he didn’t know. He just knew this was pleasure he’d never known. He glanced down and saw Sasuke had his own underwear to his knees and was pumping his own cock frantically. The next swallow, Naruto felt Sasuke moan. He grabbed a hold of Sasuke’s hair, pulling it out of his face and holding it to the side so he could look at him. “Look at me. Now.” And Sasuke tried. He could tell Sasuke was trying to keep his eyes open. He looked at Naruto and but his eyes kept twitching like he was so overcome with pleasure he just couldn’t keep them open for long. That thought was the last thought he had and Sasuke’s hard suck and deep, long moan had him crashing over the edge. When he finished climaxing he looked down just in time to see Sasuke, mouth still sucking his cock and finishing his climax into his underwear. When Sasuke finally released his cock and rolled off him, Naruto whimpered. Again. He reached over blindly and touched Sasuke’s shoulder. “Best night of my life, Sasuke.” He panted deeply.

“Me too. Go to sleep.” And he did.

* * *

 

The next morning, Sasuke wasn’t the first to wake up. Naruto was still wired. He’d slept hard and peacefully, getting all he’d needed but when he woke just after sunrise he knew he could have fallen back asleep. But he felt like a kid the morning after Christmas. He had new toys to play with and he’d woken up just enough to remember how awesome his toys were. There was no going back to sleep after that realization.

He knew the night before they’d had huge revelations and changes in their relationship. He’d known that Sasuke and he had both been more than willing to take things further, but they hadn’t. He knew the fact that he had never had sex was a huge motivating factor for that, and he assumed Sasuke’s hesitancy was that they’d already established Sasuke would bottom, though he’d never done so before. There would not be many opportunities like this for Naruto, he knew, to share a first with him and, he had to acknowledge, it put a lot of unintentional pressure on them both. Naruto was terrified, if he were being honest with himself. But he was a male in the peak of his sexual maturity and he was in bed with the man he’d decided would be his _forever_. He had all kinds of emotions for the man in his bed, but he couldn’t deny when he woke up the ass pressed up against him had definitely given him tunnel vision for his desires.

He still had Sasuke asleep in his arms and he inhaled Sasuke’s hair deeply, his smell alone was arousing to Naruto. Sasuke stirred some but didn’t wake as Naruto slide him out of his hold. He kissed his way around his chest and he could tell Sasuke was conscious but resistant to fully waking. Neither boy had put any clothes back on the night before so Naruto had no trouble sliding his hand directly down to Sasuke’s cock while he let his kisses linger on his stomach. Sasuke made a small happy grunt and Naruto took it as encouragement. He pumped his hand lightly and kissed lower, nipping Sasuke’s hipbone as he ventured beneath Sasuke’s cock to lick and kiss Sasuke’s sac.

“Mmmm, Naruto?” Sasuke’s eyes were finally open and he was slightly disoriented awaking this way. His disorientation wouldn’t last long, though and Naruto opted to take advantage. He let his hand drop and took Sasuke’s entire length in his mouth, watching Sasuke’s face. His mouth fell open, he moaned loudly and he thrust up into Naruto’s mouth. Naruto hadn’t been expecting to be able to take Sasuke’s entire length in his throat, but he found Sasuke’s cock was much easier to handle than his brother’s fucking crow. So when Sasuke thrust up, he handled it pretty well, too. Sasuke’s hands shot to his head and grabbed his hair roughly pulling him off slightly. Naruto let himself be pulled up, only long enough to smile broadly.

“Good morning, Babe.”

“Fuck, Naruto.” Sasuke half smiled, half-panted. “That is a good morning.” And his smile dropped slightly. “Don’t call me ‘babe’ Baka.” Naruto just shrugged and lowered his head to take Sasuke back into his mouth. Sasuke kept his hands twined in Naruto’s hair and helped set the pace, which started pretty slow but built in both speed and intensity.

Sasuke had his fair share of sexual fantasizing on an ordinary day, but in the less than 24 hours since he and Naruto had decided to have an intimate relationship, he hadn’t even had a chance to fantasize, even though he’d spent a good portion of the night awake while Naruto slept. As for sexual thoughts, he’d done nothing yet but think about how good he’d had it so far; about how the moments he’d shared with Naruto had been so much more intense because of how close he already was with his lover. This was an entirely foreign concept to Sasuke, obviously. He’d thought his feelings of love and his feelings of lust would be separate, but they fed off each other. He was obsessed with the way they intensified each other, craving more of both, completely unable to distinguish the two from each other anymore. And he hadn’t even had sex with the blonde yet. He had known Naruto would be the end all for him in the sexual department, it’s true. But knowing something and living it were two entirely different things, apparently. _Naruto was fucking perfect._

“ _Fuck_ , I love you.” Sasuke said the words without thinking and noticed Naruto immediately froze his mouth over Sasuke’s length. Sasuke jerked his head from the pillow to look at Naruto. Blue eyes stared at him in shock and awe. It made his blood rush. Particularly to his face. The words were definitely unplanned but there was no chance Sasuke would take them back. So he spoke to soften the blow. To ease the awkwardness they may have caused. “What? You had to have known that. Forever, you said. You had to have known I loved you if I said Forever, didn’t you?”

Naruto sat up and looked like he didn’t know what to say for a moment, still stunned. “But… now? You realize that’s the most unromantic way to say that, right?”

“You wanted me to be romantic? Don’t be an idiot.”

“Well, maybe not romantic, but … not at a weird time. I literally had my mouth full. I couldn’t say it back.”

“So say it back now.”

“It’s not the same.”

“Then put your mouth back on my cock.”

“Oh, hell, Sasuke, you’re like the worst mood killer there is.”

“Wait, I tell you I love you and it _kills_ the mood? Not amplifies? Should that be a concern to me?”

“Shut up. I can’t think.”

“You’re not particularly known for it, no.”

“Bastard!”

“Moron!”

Naruto’s scowl suddenly breaks into a grin. “You’re not going to kill me.”

“It may be too soon to make that judgment. I don’t relish the thought of blue balls.”

“Pfft. No. I mean. You love me. So you’re not going to kill me one day. I think I just realized that. I don’t have to watch over my shoulder anymore. You won’t be there with a katana ready to slice me open.”

“I tried to kill you with 100% intent twice before and I loved you both of those times, too.”

“Shut up, it’s different now, isn’t it?”

Sasuke hesitated because he wasn’t sure exactly what to say to prevent this conversation from dragging on. “Yes. It’s different.” He leaned up on his elbows. “I… um… I’m not sure if I should apologize.”

“What, for trying to kill me so many times?” Naruto chuckled lightly.

“Yes. I’m not joking.” Naruto’s smile dropped. “I mean, I do obviously regret hurting you.” He touched Naruto’s chest where he’d punched a chidori through him. Then he let his hand travel to the grafted arm. “But I don’t think we’d be here in this exact place if I hadn’t. Besides, saying I’m sorry is such a … _small_ gesture.”

“I don’t need big. I don’t need the small gesture, even. You’re here. I’m happy in this exact place. I think I’d have rather we got to ‘our bed’ without the war and new arms and the borderline sociopathic-ness… but, I’m glad we’re here.” He stroked up and down Sasuke’s thighs lightly. “Aren’t you?”

“Kami, yes.” Sasuke exhaled the words deeply in a rush and without meaning to do so, revealed exactly how relieved he really was being in this moment. He felt himself flush slightly and couldn’t be bothered to care. He let his hand touch Naruto’s face. “I love you, Naruto. I’ll never let anything hurt you again.”

Naruto positively beamed. “I love you, too, Sasuke. Let me show you.” He kissed the top of Sasuke’s cock in several open mouth kisses before opening wide to swallow as much as he could and refused to yield his task until it was complete. It didn’t take long, either, before Sasuke was panting and tapping Naruto’s shoulder in warning he was about to cum. He knew Naruto had never done this and he remembered from his first time that it wasn’t an altogether pleasant experience, but Naruto refused to yield even then. When Sasuke came, squeezing Naruto’s arm tightly, Naruto moaned around his cock, swallowing greedily. When he pulled away, he traveled back to the top of the bed and laid on top of Sasuke just momentarily before pulling him slightly over with him. Naruto pulled one of his legs up at the knee so it was wrapped around his waist and Sasuke grabbed greedily at Naruto holding him flush against him. Naruto kissed Sasuke and it wasn’t long before Sasuke tasted himself on Naruto’s tongue.

Which he’d never done. It was a risk neither of his lovers would have taken with him, and the realization that Naruto was going to push him made his blood rush in excitement. Naruto slipped his fingers in between their lips to make both their tongues coat his fingers with saliva and semen and Sasuke felt his stomach coil when he realized why. Naruto’s hand reached between Sasuke’s legs and down between his ass cheeks, pushing in slightly. Naruto kissed him deeply, flicking his tongue and whimpering with every stroke. He could tell Naruto wasn’t just loosening him, he was looking for his prostate. Sasuke was genuinely surprised Naruto knew anything about it, but incredibly grateful. It didn’t take him long before he’d found the bundle of nerves and he couldn’t help the way he moaned wantonly into Naruto’s mouth and thrust back onto his fingers. The sensation caught Sasuke completely off guard and the pleasure was so intense he was fully hard in an instant and had to pull away from Naruto’s face to breath.

Naruto smiled warmly at him and that only intensified everything all the more for him. He knew he had to distract himself with something else before it all became too much for him and so he stretched his top half to the night table and reached in his top draw and pulled out a small tube of lube, handing it to Naruto. He could tell Naruto was surprised and that he had questions but he could also tell he wasn’t going to do anything in this moment but as he said: show Sasuke that he loved him. _And he’s doing an amazing fucking job so far._ The intimacy of this completely new thing for Sasuke and the fact that Naruto was doing everything so… _right_ … made it a struggle for Sasuke to keep his shit together.

Naruto added the lube and pushed another finger inside him, still stroking that spot lightly. He added a third finger and stretched on every plunge in and every pull out, kissing Sasuke sweetly the entire time. It wasn’t long until Sasuke’s cock was weeping and he couldn’t help the words fall from his mouth in a blatant beg, “Please. Please Naruto. I’m ready. Now. _Please_.” The sound of his own pleading voice made him embarrassed but there were too many other emotions at war inside him to worry about that. He had to use every ounce of his will power not to let himself cry at how vulnerable and exposed he felt. And how cherished. Naruto nodded and kissed him hard and desperately before pulling back to devote his full attention on lining his cock with Sasuke’s entrance and slowly pushing in. He asked several times if it was ok, could he go further and Sasuke, unable to trust his voice nodded emphatically each time, keeping his eyes closed.

Once Naruto was fully inside Sasuke he stayed still to allow Sasuke to adjust and grabbed both sides of Sasuke’s face. “Look at me, Sas.” He slowly opened his eyes and as he did, tears ran down his cheeks. Immediately Naruto was scared and opened his mouth to ask probably a hundred questions, but Sasuke cut him off before he began.

“No, I’m fine. It’s nothing bad, I promise. You’re not hurting me. I think… you’re…” his voice broke with emotion, “... _fixing_ me, Naruto.”

Naruto’s brow furrowed and he flung himself forward kissing Sasuke with all the feeling he could muster. He pulled back just slightly and smirked into his mouth. “I told you I would, believe it.” He grabbed Sasuke’s hands and held them both to his heart for a moment. “I love you.”

Sasuke glared momentarily before smiling a small grateful smile. “Forever.” And Naruto dove at him. He was kissing him so passionately but still not moving inside him. So Sasuke began rocking back and forth on his cock. And that was all the encouragement Naruto needed to begin his renewed search for Sasuke’s prostate, this time with his cock. And again, it didn’t take long before he’d found it and the sensation again had Sasuke shuddering with emotion and pleasure. They were still holding hands, but Naruto had just taken their hands to assist in their sex, so one of his hands, still intertwined with Sasuke’s was holding Sasuke’s knee up for better leverage and the others braced Naruto upright. Sasuke slipped his hands from Naruto’s and began assisting Naruto’s thrusts, pulling him in as deep as he could. He still couldn’t trust his voice to speak in sentences, but he could pant out expletives, small commands and grunts. Both he and Naruto’s orgasms were fast approaching and when Sasuke felt his about to hit, he dug his fingernails into Naruto’s ass cheeks as he came across his chest. The added sensation must have done Naruto in, too, because just moments later, Naruto was groaning Sasuke’s name and spilling inside of him.

Naruto pulled out of Sasuke slowly and convulsed as he did from the sheer sensation. He pouted when the air touched his cock.

“What is it?” Sasuke asked regarding the pout.

“It’s cold now.” Naruto grabbed some clothing from the previous night and wiped them off as best he could. “Pretty sure that’s my new favorite place to be.”

“My ass?” Naruto nodded eagerly and Sasuke groaned. “If you think that’s all we’re doing, you’re kidding yourself. Your ass will be mine, soon, too. Just so we’re clear.”

Naruto chuckled. “I know. I’m more than ok with that.” He crawled back into bed and lifted the covers back over them. “So ... um. Thank you.”

“What the fuck for? You don’t _thank_ someone for sex, Naruto, for fuck’s sake. If I hadn’t wanted it we wouldn’t have done it.”

“No, I know. I’m not thanking for the sex. Not really. Just… Thank you for letting me have something special with you. Your first something.”

“You idiot. If it wasn’t with you, then who cares?”

Naruto snuggled into his neck and hummed. He inhaled and smelled Sasuke’s sweat and semen mixed with his own. “Let’s hit the showers.”

Sasuke held tightly to Naruto’s arms. “Hn. Let’s lie here for at least five more minutes.”

Naruto collapsed fully onto the bed next to Sasuke, “Perfect.”


	9. A New Hokage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going to be honest, This is a *really* OOC Sasuke in this chapter. I don't think there's one thing he says or does in this chapter that canon Sasuke would do.  
> ... But I'd really liked it if he would. :)  
> Anyways, some fluff, some resolution. Mostly just some more closure for me. :D

* * *

 

Naruto woke to low whimpering and Sasuke’s shaking form. He was having a nightmare. He tried to soothe him, but for the first time, he couldn’t. The more he whispered his name, the more frantic Sasuke became and soon, Sasuke was whispering harshly in his sleep. But this time, the words were completely unexpected. “Naruto!” and “No!” and then even more heart wrenching “please” and “don’t go.” Naruto couldn’t bear it, he tried waking him and much to his surprise, one firm shake was all it took and Sasuke sat up with a frightful gasp. He looked around like he didn’t know where he was and he dove at Naruto’s chest holding him tightly. Naruto eased them back down to the bed and stroked his head.

“Hey, hey! It’s ok, it was just a nightmare. You’re fine, I’m here.” He did his best to hold Sasuke but was all over the place pulling and tugging at him. He looked like he wanted to climb in Naruto’s chest, so Naruto just held his arms slightly out, giving Sasuke free reign, attempting to nuzzle him when he allowed. He kept murmuring reassurance to him and finally Sasuke settled enough that Naruto pulled the covers back over them and wrapped his arms and legs around him tightly. “Are you ok?”

Sasuke nodded and sniffled. Naruto pulled back sharply and lifted Sasuke’s face. Sasuke fought him momentarily but when Naruto looked, Sasuke was definitely crying. It scared him. He kissed him immediately and forcefully. “Please talk to me, Sas. It may help. Please. You’re scaring the shit out of me right now.”

Sasuke pulled out of his grasp and buried his face into his chest. “That’s the first time you called me ‘Sas’ when you weren’t about to cum.”

“It’s not just when I’m turned on. It’s when I want to remind you how special this” he motioned between the two of them, “is. You don’t let anyone else call you nicknames.”

Sasuke scoffed lightly. “You don’t have to tell me how special what we have is, Naruto. If you knew half what this is to me, you’d never say stupid things like that.” His voice broke while speaking. “But I like it. Being reminded of all the things only you make me feel.”

Naruto felt wetness on his chest and he realized Sasuke was still crying. “What did you dream about?”

Sasuke shook his head, refusing to talk about it. Instead his shoulder quietly shook in a sob he tried to hold back. When he spoke his voice quivered and shook. “You can’t ever leave me, Naruto. You’ve been a constant in my life longer than my parents, longer than Itachi, now. I…” he sobbed quietly again, never lifting his face, “I need you to be more than them. I can’t lose you.” He paused and whispered, “Not ever. I won’t survive that loss.”

“Hey, c’mon. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit. You’ve lost people way more important than me, Sasuke.” For some reason this caused Sasuke to choke on a sob and pull at him more. “Sasuke, I’ll never leave you. _We_ are forever, remember? When it’s my time, I’ll go in a blaze of glory, and you’ll go on. Find someone even more badass.” He tried to make light, to tease Sasuke into calming down, but it was having the exact opposite effect. He sat up, angry, now.

“You’re such a fucking idiot, Naruto.” He spat out the statement like it was a curse. “You think for one second I’d let myself live if you died?” Sasuke snapped his mouth shut as soon as the words escaped, but it was too late. Naruto sat up with him, and grabbed him in a fierce hug, burying his face into his neck.

When he spoke his voice was hoarse and full of emotion. “Please just stop. Please. You have these crazy nights where you feel things so much more intensely, but I feel it every day. I’ve never had a anyone as important to me, either.” Naruto pulled Sasuke’s head back harshly with a handful of his hair. “You are to never hurt yourself, Sasuke. When you die, I die. I get that. That’s always been us. But just like I’m yours, you’re mine. You do not abuse what’s mine. Do you understand?”

Sasuke’s face softened and Naruto knew he could see his own tears clearly.  Sasuke touched his face wiping the tears. “You feel the same? You love me the same? Just as… desperately?” Naruto nodded and glared, annoyed that Sasuke had to keep asking that kind of question. “It’s hard for me to imagine, so I tend to think you’re lying... Pitying the poor kid who has no one.”

“Sometimes I think you’re the most self centered person alive. What is it with you? Do you forget who you’re talking to? Do you not remember how I spent my entire life up until I met you? Besides. You’re good at everything, you’re the smartest guy I know, rich, absolutely stunning to look at. You’re almost too perfect. You don’t get pity, bastard.”

“You’re not that dissimilar, Naruto in that. Still. Other couples don’t seem to feel this strongly.” He let his head fall to Naruto’s chest and Naruto could just barely hear him whisper “I don’t think anyone has ever needed someone as much as I need you, Naruto.”

“I don’t think normal relationships are like us, no.” He laid back down, dragging Sasuke with him. “They probably don’t need each other. We do. Remember, _made for each other_. We’re actually two pieces that need to be with each other.” He shrugged slightly. “Or … you know… destruction of the world. None of incarnations have ever been in love. So you’re probably right: No one has ever loved anyone like we love each other.” He squeezed him to his chest again. “That’s not bad, Sasuke. But I do think it means we’re going to have to throw out the rule book. We’re not ever going to be like them.”

“Are we ever going to tell people?”

“I think it’s probably a bad idea for people to know that the guy who’s supposed to be protecting them from you is your willing slave, Sasuke.” Sasuke snorted. “As soon as the Hokage says you don’t need guarding, though, I’ll spray paint it next to granny’s face on the cliff. How about that?”

“Do you think…” Sasuke hesitated, not looking up. “That she’ll let me be a ninja again?”

Naruto didn’t answer right away. “Is that what you want?”

“I don’t know. I think so, yeah.” He looked up at Naruto and was surprised to see his broad smile. He quirked a brow.

“Then it’ll definitely happen, believe it.” His smile faltered just slightly. “She’s finally announced she’s retiring, you know. They chose Kakashi, already. It’s supposed to happen at the end of the month. We can wait and just talk to him, if you want? Save us the trouble and her the stress.”

With that news, Sasuke began to feel a slight … excitement. He didn’t think he’d be able to be the standard “Escort, protect” ninja. He didn’t think that his reputation would allow for people to ever feel like they could trust him with their lives so directly. But he _would_ protect them. Perhaps it would be better if they didn’t see him actively doing so, though. At least for a while. Which really only left one option.

“You’d be a great ANBU, you know.” Naruto could apparently read his mind.

“I know.”

* * *

The next time Kakashi took Sasuke to the training grounds, Sasuke wanted to discuss his becoming ANBU, but struggled how best to broach the subject. They had just finished an intense Taijutsu spar and were resting and drinking water when he decided to take the plunge.

“Kakashi… Sensei…” He hadn’t called him sensei in a very long time and although it felt right to do so, Kakashi’s reaction was still one of shock. He diverted his gaze and continued. “Naruto told me you’re to succeed as Hokage this month. Congratulations. It is well earned.”

Kakashi had to have seen the changes in Sasuke the past year, and Sasuke knew Kakashi had a very keen skill at observation and analysis. Even without the Sharingan, he was still a force to be reckoned with because of this. Sasuke knew he wouldn’t have to come out and say what he wanted before Kakashi knew. But he wasn’t sure if he’d make him say it anyways.

“Thank you, Sasuke-kun.” He took a deep drink from his water. “I can’t officially release Naruto as your guard until I take office. But I will.”

Sasuke had not anticipated that Kakashi assume that be what he wanted to request. He furrowed his brow. “I hadn’t begun to think of that, Sensei.”

“I never told you, but it was difficult for me to hear you call me sensei. For a long time.” Kakashi seemed to be ignoring Sasuke’s words, focusing on the horizon, which had begun a beautiful sunset. “I was Itachi’s captain in ANBU. I felt more than a small amount of responsibility for him and to be trusted with your care, after so horribly failing him didn’t seem fair.”

Sasuke had no desire to talk about his brother. He didn’t want to hear Kakashi confess guilt to him. He’d heard Kakashi monologue, he’d heard him try to save him. He knew long ago that Kakashi didn’t just see Sasuke when he looked at him, but every Uchiha whom he’d loved and failed. “Sensei, please. You don’t—” But Kakashi interrupted him harshly.

“No. You want something from me, I will give it. But I want something from you, as well, Sasuke. I need words from you, Sasuke.” Sasuke felt Kakashi’s scrutiny in his gaze. “I loved your brother. And I should have told you what had actually happened. I put the village ahead of you. Which is what he did. What your parents did. The Hokages. What everyone’s always done to you.” He glanced over to Sasuke. “Everyone but Naruto.”

Sasuke sat back sharply, stunned. _Kakashi knew._ There was no way he’d be broaching the Naruto subject so blatantly if he hadn’t. Sasuke would not hide from the fact, and so he just nodded.

“My sensei left Naruto’s care to Lord Third. And I value all three of my former students. But Naruto, as you are well aware, wears his vulnerabilities… his weaknesses, on his sleeve. I never have to question Naruto’s. But I don’t always understand yours, Sasuke.”

Sasuke smirked in understanding. This wasn’t the talk he thought they were going to have. This was the “What are your intentions?” talk. “My weaknesses mirror Naruto’s, Sensei. In every way, and we argue daily who’s at more of a disadvantage.” Sasuke held his new hand in the space between them and wiggled his fingers. He lowered his voice but held Kakashi’s gaze. “The same.”

He could tell from Kakashi’s face he was skeptical of his words. “He won’t let you go, not ever. And you won’t be able to keep him from sharing it with the world forever. You cannot rebuild your clan with him, Sasuke.”

Three times. Three times in the span of about a minute and a half Kakashi had shocked Sasuke. He thought Sasuke was embarrassed of Naruto. That they hadn’t told anyone because of _Sasuke’s_ request. “I understand more than you know what I owe him, and not the other way around. If he wants to hide me forever, then I’ll gladly take what he gives me, Sensei.”

It was Kakashi’s turn to sit back surprised. He hadn’t expected Sasuke to say something like that at all, it was clear. Kakashi took a moment to evaluate and before long spoke. “Your guard can’t be your lover.”

“He thinks the village wouldn’t feel safe if they thought I was controlling the most powerful ninja in the world with my wiles.” He frowned. “His words. Obviously.”

Kakashi smiled and nodded. “As soon as it’s in my power, you will no longer be guarded.”

“Have I spoken enough for you that I may make my request to the future Lord Hokage?” Kakashi quirked a brow and nodded. “I’d like to join the ANBU and serve my village.” If revealing his feelings for Naruto had shocked him, this request had left Kakashi speechless. Sasuke determined more explanation may make his request easier to process. “If I still frighten the villagers, it’s probably easier for them to accept my service with a mask on my face, isn’t it?”

Kakashi nodded hesitantly. “Yes, but … that doesn’t answer why you want to serve at all.”

“For the same reason my brother did.”

“To protect the village from his family?”

“To protect the ones I love.”

“Ahh. And who are the ones you love, exactly?”

“My jinchuuriki. My Hokage. My village.”

“Good enough. You will start as a subordinate to a Captain. You understand this?”

“Hai.”

Kakashi and Sasuke shared a smirk for Sasuke’s immediate slip into role as subordinate. “Naruto is not suited for ANBU, you know that?”

“No, of course not. The fact that I’m alive is proof of that.”

“Agreed.” Kakashi stood and held his hand to Sasuke to assist his standing. “I’ll see to that shortly after the guard is dismissed. Anything else you want to shock me with?”

Sasuke smirked. “I could, you know. Rebuild my clan with Naruto.” Kakashi smiled in confusion with a brow quirked. “Harem no jutsu. I’d be a very busy man.”

Kakashi burst into laughter. “Is that a joke, Sasuke?”

“It’s a thing I’m trying.” They walked towards the village in a companionable silence.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, Kakashi's not an asshole, so I was kinda let down Kakashi and Sasuke never really spoke after the war. I really wanted a Kakashi/Sasuke conversation about Itachi.


	10. Ninja Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit more like what I'd imagine Sasuke to be like in pretty much any relationship, but particularly one with an overly friendly Naruto. So possessive. And spar-y.
> 
> Oh, yeah. Lemon warning. Dude sex. Male on male. Rough. And not for everyone. So, ya know. You're warned.

* * *

 

Sasuke watched from the window of the apartment as Naruto and Sakura walked towards him. Being able to feel Naruto coming was fantastic for creepy stalking, Sasuke had found. And Sakura had walked him home every night for a week. Sai lived close by so he often joined them. But not always. Sasuke had hated the first time he’d seen the three of them walking down the road, laughing. It hurt him more than he cared to admit that he actually missed being the third in that team. He had found himself missing the camaraderie long ago, though. It’s at least part of why he formed Team Taka. But when he saw the “new” team 7, he began missing something else that had never occurred to him: He missed serving. He missed the life of a ninja, a soldier. Protector of the people. He missed caring about his village enough to give his life for it. He was still basically confined to Naruto’s care, though. And even if he weren’t he didn’t think the Hokage would be too keen on him rejoining the ranks of her shinobi.

Today, watching Sakura and Naruto stroll along casually, he noticed Sakura’s demeanor towards Naruto had changed. When children flocked at his feet, she only allowed it momentarily before shooing them away. He grabbed her arm gently to keep her from stepping in something. She pulled him away from a candy shop. And she kept her hand on his elbow as they walked, laughing easily. They seemed in sync. They knew each other’s movements. Their bodies unconsciously moved with each other.  _ They SEEM like a fucking couple. _ Sasuke was seething with jealousy and rage.

Sakura didn’t walk up the stairs with Naruto, just to the building’s door, so Sasuke could see her give Naruto a hug and when she pulled away, he watched her hands run down his arms and momentarily squeeze his hands. Then she shyly pushed her hair behind her ear and looked down. He had no idea what they were saying but it didn’t really matter. It was clear to Sasuke that Sakura had realized she was in love with Naruto. And he knew that it was only a matter of time before she pursued Naruto more openly.

He was still looking out the window from the kitchen watching Sakura walk away in a dreamy haze when Naruto opened the door.

“Sasuke, I’m home!” He called cheerily to the back of the apartment before he saw him by the window. “Oh, there you are. Hey.”

Sasuke picked up the closest item, his coffee cup, and hurled it at Naruto’s head. Naruto ducked easily and glared.

“What the fuck Sasuke?!” That Naruto was so clueless made Sasuke even more mad, so he threw a vase, and Naruto caught it. “Stop breaking our shit. What’s the matter with you, bastard?”

“I want to spar. Now.” Sasuke hadn’t really been planning on that. In fact, he’d already had vegetables and meat marinating he was planning on them grilling for dinner. But now he  _ really _ just wanted to beat Naruto’s face in.

“No. Fuck off. What happened?”

Sasuke growled, “Fight me, Dobe.” Naruto rolled his eyes and headed down the hallway. Sasuke wasn’t thinking, only feeling hurt and rage and without realizing it, he’d activated his Sharingan, then a Susano’o arm, which grabbed Naruto and pulled him back to him. It was the first time since they’d fought after sealing Kaguya that Sasuke had used  _ any _ ninjutsu on Naruto and it took them both off guard. Sasuke was the first to recover, narrowing his eyes as he held him by one massive purple hand off the ground and just above Sasuke’s face. Naruto looked around as if he couldn’t believe what Sasuke was doing and then turned and glared in resolution.

“I don’t even know if there’s a training grounds available, Sasuke. They’re testing for chuunin next week.” He activated Kurama Mode and used his chakra to push away from the Susano’o easily. Sasuke’s eyes still glowed red, ready to pursue it further. “Fine. How about we go a little further from the village? Follow me.” 

Naruto led and Sasuke followed behind him a few steps. Sasuke felt a twinge of guilt seeing that Naruto was slightly sluggish and realized he must be tired. That was quickly dampened down by the memory of Sakura’s hands on him. On what was  _ his _ . As soon as they hit the woods they began running through the trees, Sasuke knew where they were headed, an old training ground about a kilometer outside the village. They wouldn’t be bothering the village and the village wouldn’t be bothering them. It showed rare good judgment on Naruto’s part that he chose this place.

“OK, we’re here. Are you going to tell me why we’re fighting or are we just going to do it?” Naruto turned towards him and held his arms out showing he was open for either.

Sasuke punched him square in the jaw and sent him flying twenty feet back. “Let’s talk about the finer points of what the fuck  _ Forever _ means, moron.” He activated Susano’o arm again and caught him before Naruto hit the ground, bringing him back to him and punching him to the ground in front of him.

Naruto coughed blood then jumped back a dozen feet, eyes wide. “Are you  _ breaking up _ with me? Is  _ that _ what this is? You decided forever wasn’t working for you? After two fucking months? You want this to end so you wanted to beat me up to tell me?”

The words infuriated Sasuke. How dare he even imply that  _ he _ was the one that was going to end things. He called Ameratsu and caused black flames to appear a straight path to Naruto and box him in so the only path he could take was towards Sasuke. Then he took off running to Naruto. When he got there, Naruto had braced for impact and had engaged sage mode, but had no jutsu prepared. Sasuke grabbed the either side of Naruto’s head with a fistful of hair in either hand and shook him. “ _ This _ will never end, idiot. No matter what you say, or how much you want it to. Sakura will never chase me off.” He kissed him briefly and painfully before pulling away and growling, “ _ You. Are. Mine. _ You will remember that from now on, Naruto.”

Naruto’s eyes widened in surprise and he pushed Sasuke’s hands down and tried to pull him close. His tone was soft, “I know that, Sasuke. Don’t you?” Sasuke pushed away.

“She wants you.” He spat the words out like they disgusted him. “You encourage her, Naruto. She touches you.  _ And you let her. _ ”

“She’s my friend Sasuke. Friends occasionally touch. I won’t hurt her unnecessarily just because you’ve got a sudden jealous streak.”

“ _ We  _ were friends, too. When  _ we  _ started touching  _ we _ couldn’t stop more touching. More feeling. I will  _ not _ let that happen with Sakura, Naruto.” He pointed his finger at him, yelling, “You are not hers to touch, dammit!”

Naruto opened his mouth and closed it. He nodded, mutely and walked over to Sasuke, head down. Ameratsu still flared all around them. He wrapped his arms around Sasuke’s shoulders and slowly looked up at him, nudging his nose against Sasuke’s. Sasuke felt Naruto’s groin thrust slightly against his and Naruto watched Sasuke’s mouth as he said “Then show me who I belong to, Sas.”

Sasuke didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed Naruto’s ass so fiercely that he lifted him off the ground and pulled his legs around his waist as he dropped to his knees. He kissed Naruto roughly, more biting and domination than love and affection. The fingers on one hand dug into Naruto’s thigh as caught them after pushing them to the ground with his chest. He unzipped his jacket but ripped the mesh shirt underneath. Sasuke grabbed both Naruto’s hands in his one hand and pinned them to the ground while harshly grabbing his thigh and pulling him to him as he thrust down. He attacked Naruto’s chest and neck with his mouth, biting and sucking ruthlessly. 

He let go of Naruto to pull his pants off and toss them aside. When he pulled his own pants, they only made it to his knees before he took Naruto’s hands and pinned them again. His other hand lifted Naruto’s thigh up to his chest and he thrust against him so their arousals rubbed against each other. He put his first two fingers in his mouth and generously coated them in saliva, looking at Naruto in angry lust. When he touched Naruto’s hole, he struggled against Sasuke’s hold. Sasuke plunged one finger in at the same time of slamming Naruto’s hands back to the ground and growling. Naruto whimpered and when his cocked jumped, Sasuke smirked smugly at him. Sasuke found Naruto’s prostate almost immediately and he felt a sense of mastery at that fact. No matter what happened between them, he knew Naruto’s body. And he  _ was _ its master.

He was thorough but quick in his preparing Naruto, a second finger shortly after the first; a third just seconds after the second. But Naruto appeared to feel nothing but ecstasy as he thrust and when he withdrew his fingers, Naruto whimpered again. He positioned himself at Naruto’s entrance and drew Naruto’s leg up to his chest again, using his leg to hold him to the ground. He looked in his eyes and glared and growled at the hooded, unguarded look his lover always wore. He would  _ not _ let someone take this from him. He thrust into hilt in one thrust and they both cried out. Sasuke wasn’t typically a gentle lover but his thrusts today were brutal. He was punishing Naruto for ever considering another. 

He was showing him that his heart may belong to others as well, but this body was  _ his. _ He found Naruto’s bundle of nerves again and thrust against it as hard and as fast as he could. He saw Naruto’s cock leak with an abundance of precum and the thought of seeing Naruto cum on his chest while he thrust into him this way was almost too much for him to handle. He let go of Naruto’s hands and wrapped his hand around his cock, pumping. Naruto’s hands immediately grabbed Sasuke’s ass trying to get closer; to pull Sasuke in more. It took exactly five pump/thrust combinations for Naruto to spurt his semen all over his stomach and just as Sasuke had imagined, it was too much for him and he was soon unloading into Naruto as well.

They fell into a crumpled heap panting and touching. Naruto blindly felt around until he found Sasuke’s hand and squeezed. “You’re burning the training grounds down.”

Naruto’s tone was entirely too casual for the severity of what was happening, Sasuke thought, but he let Amaretsu go, and his eyes to go back to black. He grabbed Naruto’s chin roughly and held him an inch away from his face. “That’s the least of what I’d do to keep you, Naruto.”

Sasuke was going for intimidating, but Naruto’s reaction was a bright smile. “You have the best pillow talk ever.” Sasuke fought a smile momentarily before giving in and exhaling deeply.

“Shut up, Usuratonkachi.”


	11. Sakura's Breakfast

Sasuke was awake long before Naruto. It was Naruto’s day off and so they hadn’t gone to sleep until late the night before. He lied in bed for a while taking his time waking up slowly. When he finally got up, went to the bathroom, got dressed and made it to the kitchen, he was rooting around for some food when he heard a knock on the door. He thought it was probably too early for Kakashi, so it wasn’t going to be for him. Still, he’d let Naruto sleep. He looked through the peephole and quietly groaned. When he answered the door, he opened it wide.

“Good morning Sakura. How can I help you?”

She pushed past him looking around. “Is Naruto home?”

“This is his apartment.”

“Is he  _ alive? _ ”

“If you mean have I killed him,  _ No,  _ Sakura. Same answer as last time. He’s just asleep. To what do we owe the honor of your company?” He thought momentarily about how he would explain if Naruto woke while Sakura was here and she saw him come out of Sasuke’s room half dressed. The worry didn’t last long though, before the thought was replaced by an angry fear caused by her next words.

“Well, will you just give him these?” She handed him a blue box that he immediately tossed on the counter and a grocery bag. He perused the bag and saw breakfast foods, he opened the box and saw homemade cookies. She’d planned to make him breakfast. And give him cookies  _ she’d _ made for dessert. Sasuke was sure that’s not all she had in mind for desserts.

“You’re interested in dating him.” Sasuke folded his arms across his chest. Her eyes went wide in shock and then narrowed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sasuke. He’s my friend and he has to live in a fuck-all set of circumstance, thanks to you being here. He’s owed some sort of reward.”

Sasuke almost told her that he’d rewarded him in the shower just last night, but refrained. “You’re forgetting I’ve been on the receiving end of these same kind of ‘rewards’ from you Sakura. I know what they mean coming from you.”

“He’s going to have to marry at some point, Sasuke. There’s no reason it can’t be me. You know as good as I that he wanted me before.”

“Oh, you mean when you thought you loved me? You think for one second I’d let you confess your love to  _ him _ next and then abandon him when—”

“When what, Sasuke? When  _ he _ tries to kill me? When  _ he _ treats me I’m nothing? When he tries to kill my mentor? Or when he puts me in a looping fucking genjustu and makes me believe he’d killed me for days? I tasted my own blood, Sasuke. I felt my heart stop. I woke up and could  _ see. Really  _ see. Loving you was a waste of my heart.” She snapped her mouth shut and took a moment to compose herself.

“I know.” Sasuke’s voice softened just slightly. “I did try to tell you that.” He sighed and plopped down in a chair at the table, motioning her to sit. “He’ll probably be up soon. You should stay.”

She regarded him wearily and sat. “Without being cryptic, can you tell me exactly why you’re opposed to Naruto and I being together?”

“No. I can’t.” She sighed in frustration. Sasuke wanted to tell her, he did. It was only a matter of time, Kakashi had a date set already for Naruto’s guard duty to be complete, the day after he took office as Hokage. He’d had Sasuke draw up the paperwork. And Naruto had been very clear he wasn’t embarrassed to tell people. But he knew this was not something he could do without Naruto’s consent and presence. He smiled weakly at her. “I can make you some tea, while we wait?” She was surprised, but nodded. “Do you want to start making breakfast? Very likely he’ll wake with the smell.”

Sakura giggled lightly at the knowledge they shared in Naruto’s fondness for food. “I have to admit, I did bring foods to do that exact thing.” She stood back up and began the task. Sasuke showing her where some things were, helping where he could. They worked in companionable enough silence and there was a surprising easiness to it, even if they both still held a certain amount of contempt.

When Naruto came down the hall, he walked in just to see Sasuke smile and hand Sakura the cup of tea he’d made for her. She returned his smile and took a drink while pulling the meat from the stove top.

“Um… Good morning?” Naruto’s words drew both their attentions to him and both smiles broadened. “What…” he yawned “What smells so good?” He regarded them carefully. Sasuke looked at him like he was an idiot and pointed to the food they’d made, not saying anything.

“Oh. Can I have some? It looks amazing.”

“Of course you can, Naruto, that’s what it’s there for.” Sakura pulled a plate down from the cabinet and handed it to him.

He took it and smiled in gratitude. “So what’s the occasion?”

“She’s trying to convince us she’d make a great housewife.” Sasuke smirked.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Sasuke. You did more than your fair share, I’m sure you’d make a good housewife, too.” Naruto burst out laughing and received a dishtowel to the face.

“Oh, c’mon Sasuke, give and take. You give a shot, you have to take one.”

“I’m familiar with the concept, Dobe.”

“Just not experienced with it.” Sakura shot back at him.

“Not experienced with it from you, no.” Sasuke admitted. He passed the salt to her without her having to ask.

“Um… thank you?” 

He pointed to the eggs.  “Your eggs need salt.” She scowled, tasted the eggs without the salt, and begrudgingly decided he was right.

Naruto laughed again. “Maybe he’s the  _ better _ housewife.” This earned him two death glares. “Or… not…” He scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. “Thank you both. It’s delicious.”

“I have to admit, I didn’t think the next team 7 mission would be breakfast.” Sakura chuckled lightly.

“It wasn’t anything like team 7 mission, you did entirely too much work. No one had to save you once.” Sasuke smirked but there was no anger behind it.

“Unless you count the salt. You saved her there, Sasuke!” Naruto laughed lightly.

“You’re right Sasuke, not at all like a team 7 mission. Neither you or Naruto ended up unconscious. Hardly the status quo.”

“Well, your hair’s short enough as it is. If we both went unconscious now and you cut it again, you’d look even more like a boy.” Naruto could tell his two teammates were enjoying the banter back and forth almost as much as he was and it was an enormous relief. He decided he’d prefer to allow them to test each other’s limits, try to develop a relationship between each other with this new dynamic.

“Well, if I could have convinced you I was a boy, perhaps I’d have stood a better chance with you, Sasuke- _ kun. _ ” She smiled sweetly but playfully.

“I suppose.” Sasuke teasingly regarded her. “Maybe if you dyed your hair a bit. And it was dark. And I took you from behind.” He squinted at her and scrunched his nose. “Nope, I don’t think you could quite pull off what I had in mind.”

“What you had in mind?” Sakura laughed and threw a piece of her bread at him. “You had something in mind?”

Sasuke shrugged and took another bite making a big show of putting more salt on his eggs, sighing. “I probably did. Not that I knew it then.”

Sakura was amused by the turn this banter had taken, Naruto could tell. “And you know it now?”

_ Fuck.  _ Naruto realized too late this was entering dangerous territory.

“Of course I do. Clarity came very easily after the war.” Sasuke looked carefully at Sakura and waited for what he knew was coming.

“So… are you gay then? Is that why you’ve never shown any interest in any of the girls in the village?”

Naruto almost choked on his juice. Sasuke laughed a bit and Naruto saw his eyes twinkle as he pat Naruto’s back. “That would make you feel better, wouldn’t it, Sakura?”

“Well… Yes. It would.”

“I’m not. Although I wouldn’t say women are my focus either, though, no.”

“Ahhhhh. Well, I can live with that.” She shrugged and turned her focus to Naruto. “What about you?”

“Me? What about me?”

“She wants to know if you’re gay, Dobe.”

“No. Oh. I hadn’t thought that. I was just wondering if you had a … focus, as Sasuke put it…? You’re not gay, are you?”

“What? No! Well, I mean…” He frantically looked from Sasuke to Sakura for help, but neither were giving any. He sighed defeated and decided to just answer the question. “I have focus. I’m not gay.”

Sakura sat back with a big smile. “Who’s your focus, then?”

“I can’t… I’m not…”

“Yeah, Naruto, who’s your focus?” Sasuke leaned back on his chair with a smirk.

Naruto glared at Sasuke. “It’s becoming less clear by the second, Bastard.”

“It’s ok, Naruto. If it’s uncomfortable for you to share in mixed company. I’m sure it can wait. Until you’re ready.” She smiled sweetly and the expression made Naruto even more nervous.

Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes. “Naruto, since your house  _ wives _ cooked for you, you clean up. I’m gonna shower.” He took his plate to the sink and Naruto followed closely behind him. He whispered to him, “Enjoy your alone time with Sakura-chan, Dobe. She’ll expect a confession, so you’re aware.” Naruto jerked back.

“Um… Sakura, thank you so much for breakfast, that was so nice of you. But I don’t want to keep you—”

“You’re not keeping me at all, Naruto-kun.”

“And I need to get ready, too. Sasuke and I need to get some groceries and I set up a meeting for later I really need to get Sasuke ready for.”

“Oh… OK. Well, we should do this again sometime.”

Naruto began walking her out, nodding emphatically. “Yes absolutely! We will! Soon. Team 7 forever. Bye Sakura…chan…”

“See you soon, Naruto-kun.”

He closed the door and leaned against it looking at Sasuke eyes wide in fear. “Naruto- _ kun _ ? Since when?!”

Sasuke shrugged. “I did tell you this would happen.” He pushed away from the counter. “Team 7 Forever? Really?” He shook his head in amusement at Naruto’s flustered behavior. “Better not be  _ forever,  _ Idiot. _ ” _

“I didn’t mean  _ that _ .”

“I know. You can tell I know because she’s still alive.” He began walking towards the bathroom, Naruto following him as he took off his shirt. “What meeting do we have? Or were you just making that up to get rid of her?”

“Oh. Um. So. Don’t get mad.”

“Which is my favorite way for you to start a conversation.”

“Shut up. I just thought since we’re done fixing up the Uchiha complex. You know. Lots of space there. And village real estate is a valuable commodity.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and turned around to look at Naruto. “What did you do?”

Naruto held up his hands. “Nothing yet, honest! But, if you wanted. You can make the choices, here, absolutely.”

“What.” Sasuke cut him off and his tone indicated he was done beating around the bush.

“It’s a meeting with the council. They’re going to inspect the compound. To see if it’s up to code and if we can, if YOU can, I mean. … If YOU can rent the buildings out. If you wanted.”

Sasuke was surprisingly calm by this information. He shrugged. “We’ll talk to them. I was thinking of donating some of the buildings to the orphanage. Maybe talking to the Hokage and renting a few to the school, or the ANBU. Maybe even encouraging a police force to start back up. To deal with the little shit Shinobi aren’t really trained for.” He stripped down and turned the water on. “Go do the dishes and get dressed. We really do need to get food before the meeting.”

Naruto sat there stunned.  _ Well that went a lot better than I had planned. _


	12. Team 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: THIS IS ME TRYING TO MAKE IT MAKE SENSE TO ME. BIG lemon. Be warned. There is some threesome sex, here. It's not canon. It's kinda out of character for even my own versions of the characters.

* * *

 

Sasuke was awoken by a soft gasp. He lifted and noticed Sakura’s presence at the end of his bed. At the end of _their_ bed. He tried to look indifferent but couldn’t withhold a small smug smirk at her bewilderment. He noted his surroundings with both dread and amusement. Naruto would not be happy.  They were both naked, that was the first thing worthy of note. But Naruto was also curled up, not beside him so much as half on top of him. He usually did sleep this way, and there was very little room for interpretation. And the blankets were balled at the foot of the bed, so Sakura was seeing everything. Including their torn clothing from the prior night’s zealous bout of sex strewn about the furniture. And they hadn’t cleaned the bed in a few days. So it was incredibly obvious that they were lovers. And that they had been for a while. Of course there was the Uchiha/Uzumaki crest combo they’d painted on the wall, if she had any doubts.

Sasuke kept his eyes locked on Sakura and poked Naruto’s cheek hard.

He rolled off Sasuke with a grunt “What?”

Sasuke pointed ahead of them to Sakura. When Naruto’s eyes met Sakura’s he spoke slowly. “Ohhh. Shit.” He looked at Sasuke for help. Sasuke gave him none.

“Well, we can’t deny, so what do you want to tell her, now?”

Naruto looked at him incredulously and then groaned. “Um. No. Nope. Huh uh.” He grabbed clothes as quickly as he could and stuffed his limbs into them shaking his head over and over.

“Where the fuck are you going?” Sasuke’s voice was disbelieving, as if he couldn’t imagine a reason for leaving right now.

“I have to give a report.”

“Right now?!” Sakura’s voice matched Sasuke’s in shock.

“Yuuuuup.” He drew out the word and refused to meet their eyes.

“Coward.”

“Yuuuuup.” He waved over his shoulder and ran past Sakura and out of the room, then out of the apartment.

For not the first time, Sasuke found himself thinking he was going to kill Naruto. He grabbed clothing as quickly as he could and walked into the living room, Sakura following behind him.

“Is there no way you won’t take advantage of him?”

He finished putting his shirt on and glared at her. “You know better than anyone, I don’t need to ‘take advantage’ of someone to get them into my bed, Sakura. I found he hardly needed any convincing at all.”

He knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as he’d said it. Not only was he reminding her that she’d invested a great deal of her time and heart to working towards someone’s affections he already had, it reminded her that she hadn’t gotten anywhere with Sasuke, either.

Her eyes widened in rage and she did not hold back in the slightest when she punched him in the jaw. He flew through the picture window and landed on his feet in the middle of the street two stories below. _So much for the barrier._ Sasuke couldn’t help wonder when exactly Naruto had lowered it, how he’d done it without him and what exactly the punishment would be when the Hokage found out.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and as soon as Sakura looked down at him from the gaping hole in the apartment above, he had her in a genjutsu. He kept her standing and had her fold her arms haughtily across her chest, smug smirk on her face, entranced. To the onlookers of the village, it appeared Sakura was just doling out some cosmic justice to the traitor of Konoha. In fact, Sasuke heard a few mutterings of just that and smug chuckles around him. He met their eyes, and shrugged as sheepishly as he could manage. More chuckling. Almost as if they thought they understood. They accepted this version of Sasuke. The one who was occasionally punished by former friends. Somewhere in the back of mind he decided he could play that role, at least in public. But for now… He needed to deal with Sakura. He hopped up to stand next to her and led her to the couch, where he sat next to her and entered her mind.

She knew as soon as she saw him there exactly what was happening. “You know you make it very difficult to prove to you I’m not intimidated when every time I look you in the eye you slip me into a fucking genjutsu, Sasuke.” Her hands were folded across her chest in the same smug way he’d placed her for the village’s benefit. He couldn’t help the smirk at such a confirmation at how well he knew her.

“You put a hole in Naruto’s wall.”

“You should have been held in with a barrier! How long ago did you pull it down? Why are you even still here?”        

“I didn’t. I was just as surprised as you were.”

Sakura didn’t question him, which told him that she suspected the same as he: Somewhere along the line, Naruto had begun trusting him enough to understand the barrier wasn’t necessary. And the fact that Sasuke hadn’t even noticed it was gone showed her the same as it must have shown Naruto: His trust wasn’t misplaced.

“You’re in love with him.” It was a statement, not a question. Sasuke knew that he had no reason to respond, so he only glared. He noted Sakura wasn’t upset by this realization. She seemed surprised, but also seemed to be adjusting quickly. As if pieces were falling into place for her. “He’s… happy. It’s not me. It’s you. I thought… that he and I were getting closer. That … we were… That I was the reason.” She hung her head slightly and Sasuke couldn’t help but feel for her. This was the second time that she’d faced her love being unrequited and both times were his fault. She looked him in the eye and he saw pain, but also strength. “I’m in love with him, too, Sasuke.”

Sasuke made the signs and released the genjutsu. They were both aware and on the couch in Naruto’s slightly demolished apartment. They looked at each other as equals for the first time. Sasuke moved to grab her hand, moving slow enough to give her ample opportunity to stop it, but she allowed the touch. “He… loves you, too, Sakura. It’s been… difficult for me. To see that. To share that part of him.”

Sakura scowled. “You haven’t _shared_ anything, Sasuke. If he loves me, it’s purely hypothetical. He hasn’t ever done anything… inappropriate. If you’re together, it’s obvious he’s _committed._ ” She almost spat the last word. She sighed in a resigned acceptance and Sasuke knew that he had underestimated her strength. She nodded once, as if she was agreeing with something. “You know Naruto as well as I do. He deserves to be happy. He’s saved us both, in so many ways.”

There was an understanding that fell between them. Sasuke knew that Sakura’s love wasn’t an infatuation as it had been with him. He knew she would have loved Naruto as completely as he did, if the two of them had ended up together. She wouldn’t have abandoned him. He momentarily considered yielding him to her, but pushed the thought away almost as quickly as it had risen. Naruto was not a possession to pass from one person to another. And he certainly would not tolerate Sasuke making this choice for him. Besides, Sasuke knew he was entirely too selfish for this to be something he genuinely considered. He’d never be able to live without Naruto now that he’d had a life genuinely shared with him. Sakura could.

The realization was an epiphany of sorts for Sasuke. Her strength could help him.  He had an insecurity in his relationship with Naruto. Sometimes it overwhelmed his mind and felt like an open wound. Sakura was an unrequited love for Naruto. He would always wonder what being with her would be like; she’d always be the one who got away for him. Sasuke had to be careful, he knew. He would never again abuse the trust she had in them, and he could never let her feel used. But her love for Naruto wasn’t as desperate as his. She could love Naruto but not be in his life, breathing him in every day. She was, in this way and so many others, so much stronger than Sasuke. The epiphany warmed him to her in ways he’d never imagined. Her strength was an admirable quality.

“He deserves everything he’s ever wanted and then some.” A simple statement, yet not fully understood. Sakura nodded in agreement with Sasuke.

“I know. I won’t get in your way, Sasuke.”

“You won’t.” Sasuke hesitated. “You … are something he’s always wanted, Sakura.” He met her shocked gaze with an uncertain one. “You’re right, though. I haven’t… _shared._ ”

“… Sasuke?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto had given his report to the Hokage very slowly. He was dismissed far too quickly for his liking. He decided he’d take the long, scenic route back to his apartment. He was in no hurry to address the awkward situation waiting on him. In all likelihood, Sakura had left shortly after he did, but he guessed she’d been pretty rough on Sasuke. He knew he’d need to be there with his lover to help him adjust to being “outed” and he knew he should go directly to him. But he hadn’t sorted out exactly what he wanted to do about the situation either.

He wasn’t ashamed of being with Sasuke, of course. If anything, quite the opposite. No one had ever turned the Uchiha’s head and the fact that he had his full attention, and heart, was nothing but a source of pride for Naruto. One look at Sasuke and any bystander knew he was as near physical perfection as any man could be. People who knew Sasuke for his whole life; classmates and teachers, they knew he was as talented as any student could be. Shinobi who witnessed his feats during the war knew he was a fearsome thing to behold.

Naruto knew his heart. When he pulled down the barrier months ago, he was certain there would only be a few days before Sasuke mentioned it. It was only natural to, if in a prison of sorts, to test the barriers every so often. And Sasuke wasn’t exactly the kind of person to do anything against his will. Perhaps that’s why he shouldn’t have been surprised that, months later, Sasuke didn’t even know the barrier was gone. Sasuke wasn’t there against his will. He was with Naruto, staying with Naruto, not testing boundaries, because he wanted to be.

Because he didn’t have any interest in violating Naruto’s trust.  If nothing else had happened in those months, that alone would have been enough to prove himself to Naruto. No, Naruto knew better than anyone Sasuke’s worth; he wasn’t embarrassed. And he was humbled to call him his own. He’d carve it in the Mountain next to the Hokage’s faces for all to see as far as he was concerned. But it wasn’t that simple.

First, nothing with Sasuke was simple. He knew him better than anyone, but he had no idea how Sasuke would handle being exposed like this. It gave him a vulnerability; Naruto was his vulnerability. Saying Sasuke had not handled that well in the past would be an understatement. He was reasonably certain Sasuke would no longer try to kill him, but he wasn’t certain he wouldn’t run. Second, he was still technically his guard. And although Sasuke had said Kakashi would lift that, he hadn’t gotten to it yet. Third, the fact that Sasuke was the last Uchiha was a lot of pressure on him and a lot of guilt on Naruto. While they’d never spoken about it, Naruto remembered Sasuke’s dreams. Of course he did. Sasuke wanted to rebuild his clan. And Naruto wanted Sasuke to have his dreams. He wanted to give him his dreams. He wanted Sasuke to have everything he’d ever wanted. Because he loved him completely and selflessly.  Lastly, and as much as Naruto didn’t want to admit this, his feelings for Sakura complicated things on their own. He knew that he never had loved Sakura with the passion and intensity with which he did Sasuke. He knew, without a doubt Sasuke was the _one_ for him. But he couldn’t deny that, in Sasuke’s absence in his life, Sakura would have been the one he’d chased.

It made him think about where his life would have ended up without Sasuke. Would he be attracted to only women? He had to admit he thought he would have been. He’d had the off random fantasy about Sasuke before their return to Konoha, but even then, he couldn’t say there was any realistic thought of that happening. That he was in a committed relationship with a man was just as surprising to him as he was sure it was to Sakura. But he couldn’t lie, to himself or to anyone else.

He did love Sakura. She was part of both he and Sasuke. A lot of his favorite memories of growing up with Sasuke included her. He even thought part of his feelings were because of that correlation in his mind. In some of those memories, Sasuke and Sakura were hard to separate completely in his mind. Sasuke and Sakura cared about him. They trusted him. They knew him. They accepted him completely because they knew him completely. If he was being honest with himself, he was surprised Sasuke didn’t feel the same towards her to a certain extent. Team 7 and the Hokage were the only 4 people in the world who knew Sasuke had gone revolutionary just after the war. She wasn’t thrilled with him, clearly, but she wasn’t trying to kill him. And he was pretty sure most people who knew what had happened would.

He had to understand that she was a part of them. She was someone they could honestly share with; who’d proven she could be trusted, who’d shown she cared for them. He’d even said that now that she was no longer fawning all over him that they may be able to begin an actual relationship. Naruto knew he hadn’t meant a romantic relationship. But sometimes he wondered. The two had recently acted more and more like he and Sasuke had as children, bantering and squabbling with each other. The thought had definitely occurred to Naruto.

He needed to talk to Sasuke. He needed to understand Sasuke’s mind on this and share with him his thoughts. As much thinking as he’d done, he still wasn’t sure exactly what he felt for Sakura, but he knew he had to talk to him. He had to ease his insecurities while still being honest. It was a long, difficult discussion he had in front of him tonight. He didn’t expect they’d get an ounce of sleep. He just needed to stay focused. He couldn’t let Sasuke distract him with sex. _Easier said than done._

It had been hours of the “scenic route home” before Naruto actually returned. When he came in view of his apartment, he could tell that the wall had been replaced. There was a new window, not yet painted and the wall around the window had been built, but not spackled. None of the villagers seemed to notice, and as he jogged to his door, he tried to convince himself that if there had been a big public fight there would still be some sort of commotion among them.

He was wholly unprepared for the world shift he’d experience once he opened the door.

Sasuke was just coming out of the guest bathroom, towel around his shoulders as he used one hand to dry off his hair. He wore Naruto’s sweatpants low on his hips and his feet were bare. Naruto had always thought this fresh from shower, half dressed Sasuke was the best Sasuke. But Naruto’s concern and curiosity were too great to be tempted away.

“What the fuck happened to my apartment, Sasuke?” Naruto threw his hand to point to the wall beside him.

Sasuke shrugged casually. “Sakura’s punch knocked me through the wall. I landed on the street.” He quirked an eyebrow at Naruto. “She assumed the barrier would hold me in.”

It was Naruto’s turn to shrug. “Is she ok?” Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“Why wouldn’t I be ok?” Naruto’s head shot to the owner of the voice and saw Sakura walking from their bedroom in a similar state to Sasuke: towel around her neck, hair wet, wearing Naruto’s t-shirt, her panties and nothing else. The awareness that they were both in his clothes made his head swim. Sakura sauntered over to Sasuke and placed a casual hand on his bicep, smiling at him. “I hit _him._ He’s not nearly as strong as I am, why does everyone assume if he and I were to fight, I’d lose? I gave him quite a beating.”

“I think for the same reason you ended up in a genjutsu stupor immediately after said beating.” His face remained relatively blank, but Sasuke winked down at Sakura before the two looked back at Naruto. _Sasuke winked. He fucking winked. At Sakura._

“He cheats.” Sakura smiled up at Naruto, but kept her hand on Sasuke’s arm and Naruto suddenly felt very out of place. He felt like he didn’t belong, like he was a third wheel. He must have shown something of that feeling on his face because immediately both Sakura and Sasuke reached out as if to catch him. “Woah, hold up, Naruto. Don’t lose it, yet.” She had her hand on his wrist and rubbed her thumb back and forth gently along the inside.

Sasuke grabbed the bicep of his other arm firmly. “Want to talk about it a second?” He nodded his head in the direction of the couch and Naruto nodded numbly. They sat down with Naruto in between his former teammates, eyes wide and full of questions.

“We talked. We’re fine.” Sasuke said it so simply as though it explained everything and the conversation would then be over. Sakura scoffed.

“Um, we’re more than fine, Sasuke. Naruto, we’re good. We’re in a good place. We talked so much. We fixed the wall together, we had clones play fetch for what we needed and we really talked. And we’ve found a common ground. We’re the same in one way. The one way that’s most important to us. Do you know what that is?” Naruto shook his head. “You.” She turned towards him, folding one leg on the couch and touching his thigh. “We both want you to be as happy as you can be. We both want to give you that.” Naruto couldn’t help but notice that his shirt had ridden up and he could see her panties completely, just a few inches away from him. He felt panic rise up and looked to Sasuke for help.

Sasuke smirked. “It’s not a trick, stop freaking out.” He touched his face and pulled his mouth to his, kissing him slowly and reassuringly. The sensation of Sasuke’s kiss and Sakura’s hands on his thigh set him on fire. Sasuke stopped kissing him to rest his forehead against Naruto’s. He spoke softly, their lips just millimeters apart. “I want you to have it all. Have the cake and eat it, too. It’s not _forever_ with Sakura. She knows that. So do I. I promise. I won’t freak out. I know you’re mine. But this is something she wants to give you. Something you’ve wanted for so long. And I want to give you everything, Naruto.” He kissed him again briefly as his words sunk in for Naruto. When they did, Naruto pulled away from both of them, jumping off the back of the couch and stood staring at one, then the other, then the other again.

He couldn’t find words for what seemed like a long while. He just stood staring at his best friends. To their credit, they didn’t push him. And their faces both seemed sure of their intent. Neither was uncomfortable with this idea. When Naruto spoke his voice was shaky. “I would never betray your trust like this, Sasuke. When I have sex, it’s with you. _Forever,_ Sasuke. I meant that. I still do.” He looked at Sakura next, eyes softening in confusion. “I’d never use you like that, Sakura-chan. Sasuke and I… we’re together. We’re committed. I’d never be able to give you what you need. I do…” he swallowed hard and looked down, not wanting to meet either’s eyes when he said this, “Love you… but I’ve made my choice. Sasuke’s the one for me.” He looked up harshly at Sasuke. “This better not have been a fucking test, Sas. It was fucking cruel.”

Naruto was surprised that both Sasuke and Sakura’s reaction was to laugh. Sasuke’s a light chuckle, Sakura’s a giggle. Sakura spoke first. “It isn’t a test. And that’s very kind of you, Naruto, but I’m not being used if I know exactly what I’m getting into and I _want_ it. The only two men I’ve ever loved and my very best friends are now lovers. I don’t want to be the third wheel through your relationship. I’m quite capable of finding happiness without either of you, Naruto. But I’d be… honored if we could share a happiness together first.” She crawled up the back of the couch and sat with her legs spread slightly and both her hands holding onto the back of the couch to help prevent her from falling off. Naruto’s eyes went directly to her panties and again he felt his head swim. He shook his head as if to clear it and looked at Sasuke, resolute.

“I won’t betray you, Sasuke. Never in a million years. You _will_ be the one I have sex with from now on, Sasuke.” He began to glare, resenting Sasuke for putting him in this position. He would not add to his insecurities.

Sasuke stood and walked around the couch to him and immediately unzipped Naruto’s jacket. “I know I will be, Dobe.” He kissed his lips again lightly. “You and me, forever. I meant it, too. You and me.” He pulled away and backed up until he was standing with his back against Sakura between her legs. “But tonight… you and me… and Sakura.” He lifted his hands to Sakura’s legs, caressing her thighs momentarily before slowly going to his knees, eyes locked with Naruto’s. He extended one of Sakura’s legs and licked his way from her ankle to mid inner thigh. Naruto followed his tongue and his gaze continued up to notice Sakura had put her hands on either side of her, now and her eyes were locked on him. She licked her lips and bit her tongue in a shy, uncertain way and Naruto knew he was done arguing. He took a few steps towards them and Sasuke’s reaction was to bite the underside of her knee, which made her squeak so perfectly Naruto had to bite back a groan. She lunged forward as much as Sasuke’s presence would allow and pulled Naruto to them. She pulled at his jacket and then his mesh undershirt, undressing his top half, and as soon as his skin was exposed, she slowly, as if to test Naruto’s comfort, brought his fingers to her mouth. She kissed the tips of each finger before taking his first finger into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it and sucking it in further. She closed her eyes while she did it as if the act was so appealing to her, she was in ecstasy.

Naruto was just about to pull his hand away when he felt Sasuke, who had been quietly watching from his vantage point kneeling in between them, undo his pants and pull them and his underwear to his ankles in one fast movement. The act made him jump and the jump made Sakura open her eyes. Naruto could feel the heat from Sakura’s gaze land on his cock and he thought he may pass out from the blood rush when he saw Sasuke smirk up at her and reach up and lift Naruto’s shirt that she’d been wearing over her head. Naruto flushed with desire as he looked from Sasuke on his knees in front of him to Sakura spread and topless before him. Sakura was blushing furiously at being so exposed and Naruto reached for her, leaning in to brush his lips against hers.

She whimpered into the kiss and Sasuke, seeing both their eyes closed, took advantage. He pulled one of Naruto’s hands to Sakura’s panties and using Naruto’s first two fingers, he stroked her wetness through cloth. He saw Sakura bite Naruto’s lip and the sight shot straight to his cock. He bit down on his lip to keep from saying anything as he pulled Naruto’s hand away and turned slightly around and gave a closed mouth kiss to Sakura’s mound before using both hands to tear her panties on either leg. The tearing sound had both Naruto and Sakura thrusting forward instinctively. Sasuke put Naruto’s hands back to Sakura’s wetness and this time they both found delicate folds that Sasuke used Naruto’s fingers to part.

He continued to use Naruto’s hands to stroke Sakura until Naruto, on his own, delved deeper into her opening and Sasuke let go and turned back around to Naruto. He made no effort to stall and immediately grasped Naruto’s cock at the base, and took him in his mouth. He heard Naruto moan into Sakura’s mouth and her answering whimper. He felt Naruto’s hand at the side of his face as Naruto thrust his fingers into Sakura and followed the pace Naruto set for them.

It wasn’t long until Naruto used his free hand to grab Sasuke and pull him by the hair into his groin while he came down his throat. As soon as Naruto was done, Sasuke quickly turned around and helped Naruto’s tired hand thrust into Sakura and licked along Naruto’s fingers until he came to Sakura’s clitoris and sucked and rubbed with his tongue until Sakura, too was tumbling over the edge into bliss. She moaned out into Naruto’s mouth, pulling him in tight. Naruto and Sasuke rode out the waves of her pleasure all the while Naruto kissing and thrusting, Sasuke licking and guiding Naruto’s hand until her spasms stopped.

“He’s amazing isn’t he?” Naruto smiled into Sakura’s mouth, barely opening his eyes.

Sakura nodded. “He really should be rewarded, don’t you think?”Naruto pulled back and helped Sasuke to his feet. He grabbed one of Sasuke’s hands and one of Sakura’s.

“He will be.” Naruto pulled them both to their bedroom, and guided them to the bed. He laid Sakura on her back and kissed down her chest, licking and biting each nipple before turning around and kissing Sasuke harshly, his hands touching everywhere and winding up on his cock, caressing. He guided Sasuke on top of the bed and between Sakura’s legs, gently pushing him over to put his hands on either side of Sakura’s head. He grabbed a pillow and lifted Sakura’s hips to place it under her bottom, bringing Sakura and Sasuke’s middles in very close proximity. He saw Sasuke’s cock leaking and realized very quickly this would not last near enough to do what he was intending if there was much more foreplay beforehand. He grabbed the lube from the nightstand and came behind Sasuke.

He knew the instant each of them knew what he was intending because their reactions were so obvious. Sasuke knew as soon as he grabbed the lube and visibly shuddered with need. Sakura whimpered and thrust up against Sasuke’s cock the second Naruto took his place behind Sasuke. He wasted no time, however, and immediately lubed his fingers and began preparing Sasuke. Sasuke, meanwhile had leaned forward and was licking and nibbling on Sakura’s nipples while she idly stroked his cock. Naruto didn’t take as much time as he normally would have preparing Sasuke because his own need was building again so intensely. He found Sasuke’s bundle of nerves and stroked only a few times with his fingers before pulling them out and spreading the lube generously on his cock. He leaned down at Sasuke’s ear and whispered loud enough for he and Sakura both to hear “Fuck her, Sas. Now.”

Sakura thrust up and moaned “Yes. Now!” And Sasuke growled into her skin and positioned his cock at her entrance. Sasuke began slowly entering her and felt the stretching of Naruto entering him as well. He couldn’t help the loud moan that he let loose as Naruto drove directly to his prostate and his cock delved deep into Sakura. He was so overwhelmed by pleasure he couldn’t move. But, as physics had it, he didn’t need to move. Naruto’s thrusts were so deep and brutal, he moved them both. He thrust Sasuke into Sakura. Sasuke felt like he came immediately, thrusting inside of Sakura but that was not the end for him. Naruto kept thrusting and Sasuke didn’t even have the chance to soften before it felt like he was already on the edge of climax again.

Naruto grabbed each of Sasuke’s wrists and held his arms out wide, as if displaying him for Sakura and thrust slowly. “He’s the most beautiful person, isn’t he, Sakura? You were so right, for so long. I didn’t give you credit. You may not have known just how beautiful he was then, but you do now, don’t you?” Sakura looked at Sasuke, too euphoric to be annoyed. She touched Sasuke’s chest softly and reverently. She looked into Naruto’s eyes and nodded. Naruto kissed Sasuke’s neck and shoulder. “Being with him is the best gift I’ve ever been given.” He let his hands slide from Sasuke’s wrists to his chest, wrapping around his front and grasping his shoulders, gaining more leverage as his thrusts became more intense.

“I can’t give him to you like I promised, Sakura. But let me make you feel him.” Naruto leaned around Sasuke and kissed Sakura passionately, grabbing her by her hair and lifting her to meet his kiss. Sakura arched her back and her breast pressed against Sasuke and he felt her clench around his cock as she climaxed. Still Naruto thrust. As Sakura rode the waves out of her orgasm, she began kissing, nuzzling and sucking Sasuke’s neck and shoulder on his right side. Naruto repeated the pattern on his left side. Sasuke was fighting not to climax, and Sakura had grabbed his hands and held them above her head against the mattress while Naruto reached around to Sakura’s clitoris and began to rub. Sasuke knew when Sakura’s second orgasm began approaching because he knew he’d be unable to withstand her clenching down on his cock again. She screamed both their names over and over and Sasuke couldn’t hold it and he came inside of her again, clenching his ass around Naruto’s cock, finally sending Naruto over the edge as well, calling their names.

Naruto rolled Sasuke off Sakura, pulling him out of her and then slowly withdrew from him. He threw his arm and leg around the two pulling them in close. He stroked Sakura’s cheek with his thumb and nuzzled Sasuke’s neck with his nose. Sasuke and Sakura were wrapped in each other under Naruto’s strong limbs. They were all panting and out of breath. They were all on the verge of sleep when Naruto panted, “Best … Team 7 … Mission… Ever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't let well enough alone. That's why I kept going with this fic. Meaning the stuff after 698 - Sasuke and Sakura's kid, Sarada, that is. I wanted to still enjoy Boruto, so I tried to make the kids happen in a way that made it all ok. And I feel like Sarada... eh. I can maybe figure that out. (that's what this chapter was about.) But with Boruto and Himawari, I just got stuck. I have NO idea why the hell Naruto would end up with Hinata. So I stopped after this. I'm *not* writing more to this. I have a super short epilogue about Sarada, but I can't figure out any way to make Boruto exist in the parameters of my little NaruSasu mind. It is what it is. Writing this helped me with my disappointment in the end. And I figured it may as well get put up. But I kinda wish i'd just ended before this whole thing, Ha.


	13. Epilogue

* * *

**_Epilogue -_ ** _ Three months later _

“What does that have to do with us?” Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were standing around the kitchen counter in Naruto’s apartment, each with a cup of tea. 

Sakura had been tentatively searching Naruto’s face but at his voice, she looked sharply at Sasuke. “What do you think, Jackass?”

“How do we know it’s ours?”

Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s arms tightly. “Don’t.”

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Sasuke. “That’s right, ‘don’t.’ You know it’s yours. And you know it’s not Naruto’s. It’s  _ yours.” _

Naruto eased his hold and smiled warmly. “Then it’ll be the strongest ninja to have ever lived.”

It was Sasuke’s turn to whip his head around, this time to glare at Naruto. “It should have been  _ yours. _ ”

Naruto sat back surprised. “It was your idea.” He looked between Sasuke and Sakura. “Both of yours. It makes sense that the baby that comes from it is yours.”

“It was supposed to be  _ you.”  _ Sasuke spat at him. “Instead you offered me up like some sort of sacrifice.” Sakura rolled her eyes and groaned. She was utterly unphased by his distaste. It was expected and unpleasant but no longer offensive to her.

Naruto pressed his lips together. “Well now I’m glad I did. This is better. A new Uchiha. Not exactly an everyday occurrence. I thought that much would make you happy at least.”

Before Sasuke could erupt, Sakura sighed and cut in. “That’s not your place, Naruto.”

Sasuke glared at her but nodded. “Exactly. In offering you a chance to taste all your fucking fantasies, I now am robbed of the opportunity to make a decision on  _ my _ clan’s revival.”

“Hey! I seem to recall we were all pretty satisfied with the way that worked out, initially. I didn’t force or coerce anyone to do anything.” Naruto shrugged. “Besides, if I’d have been the one to get her pregnant - are you saying that was  _ your _ place? I don’t exactly see a whole lot of the Uzumaki clan. Is that your place to revive?” He looked at Sasuke as if something just occurred to him. “Also? Fuck you. It  _ is _ my place. You’re the one who put our clan crests together. We’re not alone anymore, remember?”

“Yeah, ok. Fine. Can we talk about the fact that now  _ I’m  _ the one offered up like a sacrifice? The host to rebuild your clans. Great.” Sakura groaned and then sighed deeply. “Can we just clear the air here? I don’t need anything from either of you. I can handle this by myself. I didn’t come here asking you for anything. Either of you. I just thought you’d want to fucking know.”

“Thinking may not be your strongest suit, Sakura.”

“Says the man who planned this whole thing but  _ didn’t _ plan for the possible result.”

“Who the fuck can  _ plan _ for Uzumaki fucking Naruto?” Sasuke said it with anger but the reality of it made everything seem so much lighter than it had been just a moment before and it caused a break in tension as Sakura laughed lightly.

“Number one most unpredictable ninja, believe it.” Naruto smiled widely. He pulled Sasuke to him and Sasuke wrapped his arms around his neck. “You know I’m not going to let her do this alone.”

Sasuke scoffed. “As if I’d let an Uchiha lose on the world without proper training.” He let his arms fall to wrap around Naruto’s waist. He looked at Sakura. “I won’t do this without him.”

Sakura laughed lightly. “I think that’s been pretty obvious this entire conversation.”

“Oh look, thinking  _ can _ be your strong suit.”

“Ok, Sasuke, my pregnancy hormones are going to kick in pretty soon and I’m going to start beating the shit out of you when you say things like that.”

Naruto laughed easily, letting go of his grasp on Sasuke. “And you can’t fight back because she’s carrying our baby.”

Sasuke smirked. “I could just keep her in a genjutsu for the next nine months.”

“Good luck with that.” She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “And 6 months” Sakura corrected him.

Naruto’s mouth fell open. “Holy shit, we have to get ready!” He went to Sakura, who smiled tentatively and he pulled her into his arms. “Thank you, Sakura.” He whispered. “This is the best part of an amazing life the three of us have had together.”

Sasuke spoke slow, considering. “It certainly wasn’t what I was planning but… your genetic material is not lacking. Had I made the choice freely, I may have chosen you to carry my child, actually.” He approached his former teammates who were still hugging. “And if you train it, it really will be the strongest, Naruto.”

Sakura nodded. “And having three parents will keep her safer.”

“Her?” Sasuke quirked a brow.

Sakura shrugged. “Just a feeling.”

“Can I be daddy?”

Sakura rolled her eyes and smirked at him. “I think that’s generally your role here, yeah.” He beamed at her and hugged her tighter. She looked over at Sasuke who was standing very close now, but still had his arms across his chest. He looked less angry and less scared. “We’ll do this together, yeah?” 

Sasuke nodded once in agreement. She smiled and grabbed him and pulled him to them and into their hug. 

Naruto wrapped one of his arms around Sasuke, too. Sasuke felt overwhelmed and it was obvious. But he wasn’t worried anymore because no matter what was to come, he knew Naruto would be there by his side. And, he supposed, Sakura was a good ally to have in raising his child, as well. He allowed his arms to lightly wrap around them both. Naruto pulled away from Sakura long enough to kiss him quickly before nuzzling back into Sakura’s neck.

Sasuke laid his head against the top of Sakura’s, thinking. “I suppose this team 7 is  _ forever _ , too.”

“Yeah… So… I’m dating Lee.”

Sasuke sagged in relief immediately. “Oh, thank Kami.” They all laughed lightly. 

“I meant it when I said I wouldn’t come in between you two. It’s you two ‘Forever’ and now…” She pulled away and grabbed each of their hands in one of her own and placed them on her belly. “This can be part of your forever, too.”

Sasuke took a deep breath and put his other hand lightly on Sakura’s cheek. “I’m sorry.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Shut up.”

Sasuke smiled, knowing Sakura was exactly what he’d needed from her: his friend. His voice broke slightly as he hoarsely whispered, “Thank you.”

She smiled and nodded. “Hai. … Papa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! All done. Anyone have any interest in writing a fic that would make Boruto and Himawari work in a Naru/Sasu world? :D


End file.
